A tree blocks SH6 south of Hari Hari (from January). Photo:
A long-time Hari Hari resident says the storm damage that swept through the rural township on Tuesday night was the worst in living memory.
A creek which runs off the steep hill behind the township broke out during a heavy storm, while a slip thundered down the hillside and surrounded a house in a near-miss, blocking the State highway.
Several properties on the north side of the highway lost the likes of freezers and tools stored in low outbuildings, with sections smothered in a layer of silt.
Westland District Council group manager regulatory and community services and Civil Defence group controller Te Aroha Cook said they were not aware of any residences left uninhabitable, although many had suffered damage on their sections.
The only close call was near the creek, where the slip came down on either side of a house.
Resident Jenny Adamson was left overwhelmed in the aftermath.
"It's not just me - some people are far worse off," Adamson said on Wednesday.
Her frustration was exacerbated by a call to the West Coast Regional Council to inform them of the creek at the root of the flooding.
"It's just behind all the houses and comes out through my section... We've had floods before - the regional council got it cleaned out 20 years ago," Adamson said.
However, the scale of damage from this storm was the worst in living memory for Hari Hari locals, she said.
"Something else has happened because we have never had so much silt. My garden is absolutely ruined."
Adamson was informed by the regional council she would have to get a contractor herself if she wanted the creekbed cleaned out.
"I know a lady who has lost everything in her garage - and it was all but through her house. No one has seen it that bad here before."
Westland District Council contractor Westroads had been in the area assisting with the clean-up.
Regional council acting infrastructure manager Colin Munn said it sounded like Adamson "could have been better advised".
Usually, the regional council would direct residents in an area like Hari Hari to the district council, he said.
"It's not something we manage from a river management point of view ... It's always a problem with these things - the people feel like they are being bandied around."
However, for Westland council, Cook said she believed the question of jurisdiction over management of the creek would be for the regional council, although it really came down to land tenure.
Those affected by floodwaters should contact their insurer first, she said.
That would flag to insurers there was an issue and they would then want to get to the bottom of any liability.
"The insurers will be very interested. My advice is first port of call is to contact your insurance."
Yesterday afternoon Adamson was waiting for a kindly contractor neighbour to help waterblast her pathways at least, but the section was "ruined".
She was concerned to hear "a huge mass of logs and rocks" was still sitting above the slip area.
"I'm not too badly off [but] I don't want it to happen again - it was scary."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
