As the damage from the flooding in Westport becomes clearer, attention is turning to where displaced residents – and those coming in to fix their homes – will live.
The town is facing a critical shortage of beds and some are now having to leave town to keep a roof over their heads.
Westport resident Tessa Robertson is leaving the town after her home was left uninhabitable.
“It’s not liveable anymore. My partner was ripping up the floors yesterday - the carpet and lino... My body is aching with stress,” she said.
The Bella Vista Motel has served as a refuge for several days, but now Robertson and her baby are heading north.
“I'm lucky enough to have a dad to go and live with in Nelson with the baby, and I have to leave my partner here,” she said.
Something happened last night which was just the icing on the cake for the region.
Rooms at the motel are fully booked and rental properties are hard to find, meaning a lot of uncertainty for people like Marilyn McKinny, who’s closing the door for the foreseeable future.
“Gutted, but you've got to move on. There's more than just us,” she said.
McKinny says they’re unsure where they’ll stay after their stay at the motel ends on August 4.
Hundreds of houses in the district need repairs, putting a strain on a construction sector already under immense pressure.
“There are some real challenges ahead of us - there's no hiding from that. There was a bit of a construction boom already happening on the West Coast here so resources are tight,” Jennian Homes West Coast's Frank O'Toole said.
“From your decoration teams backwards, flooring, everything else, plumbers, electricians - everyone's going to be absolutely under the pump for quite a long period of time.”
Many people were finally allowed back in their homes today, seeing the damage for the first time.
Bringing in extra tradies to meet demand is only adding to the pressure on accommodation.
With housing stock at such short supply, solutions are being worked through for people who have been displaced but there is still a long way to go before it is figured out.
“There will be a solution and it’s just a matter of figuring out the quantum of what you need for how long,” Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine said.
He says motels may be available for short-term accommodation, while transportable homes or a village could be set up for workers on longer stays.
A fire which ripped through a local backpackers hostel overnight has only compounded the woes.
“That was a really well-run backpackers and quite popular and certainly, you had some good short-term options for accommodation for workers and tradies or people that were just coming and going from town so yeah, that's another loss,” Cleine said.
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