Boyack RachelRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): Thank you Mr Speaker. Two weeks ago my electorate of Nelson and the wider Te Tau Ihu top of the South region was hit by devastating floods. Initially the weather was forecast to hit Golden Bay and Westport. What happened next was an incredibly quick change in the weather and the emergence of an atmospheric river that hovered over Nelson CBD and caused three separate rain events. A number of homes were flooded while more properties were affected by landslips due to close to one metre of rain falling above the Maitai River; 500 homes were evacuated many with only minutes to spare. There were many heroic rescues by our first responders of people and of pets. Vast areas of Nelson lost power while the main water pipe that supplies drinking water to Nelson was badly damaged. Despite there being water water everywhere for some people there was not a drop to drink. Across the top of the South we have suffered hundreds of landslips. Many many roads are out of action and the clean-up and fixing of our roads will take a number of months even years. I am delighted today that Waka Kotahi have opened State Highway 6 between Nelson and Blenheim. My huge thanks to Waka Kotahi for working around the clock to get this key link in our transport network open again for businesses and people to travel. While the sun has now come out the situation in Nelson and across the top of the South remains serious. Our beautiful city was built on and around hillsides some of which are now saturated and at risk of further slippage threatening homes and infrastructure. Behind the sunshine lie a number of homes that had been red- and yellow-stickered and a number of homeowners and residents who will be facing a long road of insurance claims and upheaval in their lives. I want to put on record my thanks to all who were involved in the response and now the recovery from the impact of the floods in our region. Thank you to the civil defence staff and volunteers who staffed the emergency operations centre (EOC) day and night as a complex situation evolved over a number of days requiring quick decision-making by the teams working through the night and under immense pressure. Particular thanks to those members of the EOC who were red- and yellow-stickered themselves but still came in to work every day to support their fellow community members. Special thanks to group controller Alec Louverdis; your quick thinking and decision to evacuate homes as a precaution saved our city from a worse disaster. Thank you to the city's contractors first responders public servants local iwi Fire and Emergency New Zealand urban search and rescue local police Defence Force staff National Emergency Management Agency staff from across the motu the Red Cross Waka Kotahi our local councils and our health and welfare workers. Collectively you stepped up to support our people as you always do. Three and a half years ago our region suffered severely from the Pigeon Valley fires causing devastation in the Tasman District. Our community stepped up then and they've stepped up again now. It's been heartening to see the community getting stuck in to support people who have lost everything and in the ongoing recovery; the neighbours and volunteers who have helped with the clean-up and offered accommodation; the businesses offering free coffees and food; Murray and Wendy Leaning for always feeding people; Giving Aroha and Unite Church for housing our homeless whānau; the Student Volunteer Army for coming to Nelson and helping to coordinate our volunteers; the many people offering baking food and supplies; and those who've contributed to our mayoral fund to support people and businesses. The recovery from this event will be a long one and tough decisions will need to be made in the future about where we can and can't build and where new homes and infrastructure go. I want to acknowledge our mayors Rachel Reese and Tim King Ministers Kieran McAnulty and Damien O'Connor for their support for our region and the Prime Minister for visiting and getting a good understanding of the situation on the ground. I also acknowledge neighbouring MP Stuart Smith and Marlborough mayor John Leggett who are supporting their community as their roads are damaged from weather events again.These events are becoming more common across New Zealand. It shows how important it is that we invest in decent infrastructure and that central government needs to work with local government on adaptation plans for the future. I know that our community and our region is a resourceful one an innovative one and we will get through this. My thanks again to everybody in Nelson and across Te Tau Ihu who are stepping up to support our recovery and the rebuild.