By Jessica Rowe
A massive clean up is underway on the Westcoast after heavy rain caused severe flooding, slips and road closures over the weekend.
The floodwaters have receded and residents are finally getting a reprieve, as the heavy rain heads north.
Hector resident Steve Macintosh was woken by the fire service early this morning, when floodwaters started lapping at his front door.
His garage is completely soaked through, and he, like many of his neighbours, has spent the day mopping up.
“It was probably knee-deep, like all around the section here, the fireman woke us up at four this morning, dragged us out of bed - we just pretty much stayed up and watched it,” says Mr Macintosh.
Residents say they haven't seen anything like it.
“The property up the road there, water has gone right through it, [there’s] mud everywhere,” says Pat Cross.
Between 300 and 450mm of rain fell on the West Coast over the weekend, and there were fears the Buller River would burst its banks. The river peaked at 11.3m - the highest it has been in more than 40 years.
“The infrastructure has held up remarkably well, we've absorbed a lot of water,” says Craig Scanlon of Buller Civil Defence.
“The Buller River is back under 6m, so it has pretty much halved from where it was yesterday.”
The small town of Westport was cut off after flooding and slips closed all roads into town, and while they are now open, road workers have been working through the night clearing slips.
State Highway 73 between Springfield and Arthur's Pass remains closed.
“Everybody's been really busy, both sides of the divide, [it’s] been very, very wet, clearing slips – a lot of them have been working through the night,” says New Zealand Transport Agency manager Pete Connors.
While the floodwaters have receded, MetService says the heavy rain is now headed north.
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