More than
300 campers have been evacuated from Quinney's Bush Camp and Caravan Park near
Nelson due to rising river levels, but the rain has eased and a cleanup has
begun.
Quinney's
campground manager, Mark Quinney, told NZ Newswire he made the decision to
evacuate the campground at 5pm on Friday when a monitoring system on the
Motupiko River recorded rising water levels.
"We
were at our maximum number, around 600, but quite a few had left, so the camp
was probably about two-thirds full," he says.
The
campground is about 10 hectares in area and about a 10 minute drive from
Tapawera. Some families stayed at the Tapawera Area School hall and others
moved to an area of higher ground.
The
campground is open again on Saturday, but some areas are roped off. There is no
damage to buildings or fences.
Flooding
was also reported near Pohara in Golden Bay but Nelson Tasman Civil Defence
Controller Jim Frater says the worst is past.
The
Nelson and Tasman regions were pummelled by heavy rain on Friday while the
clean up continued from the heaviest rainfall in 40 years earlier this month.
The
MetService said on Saturday that 100mm to 180mm of rainfall is expected on top
of what has already fallen in Taranaki and the central North Island high
country.
A further
220mm is possible in the eastern ranges of Bay of Plenty.
The rain
about Nelson and northern Marlborough is easing and a heavy rain warning for
these areas is lifted.
NZN