An emotional Nelson resident has detailed the toll the wild weather has taken on her describing it as "hell on earth" after being evacuated from her home.
The wild weather caused havoc on Thursday with flooding, evacuations, slips, road closures and property damage across the upper South Island.
Nelson residents are urged to conserve water immediately - with the city's main supply completely cut off.
Nelson resident Katie Marie Bryant-Rudolph was evacuated from her home on Wednesday and told AM there is about a metre to a metre and a half of rain throughout her house on Nile Street.
She was told, "it's not safe and you can't go back. We can't let that happen".
The first night of being evacuated from her home, she found refuge at a local McDonald's, which she joked only cost her two chocolate sundaes.
Thankfully, she was able to find accommodation on Thursday night but Bryant-Rudolph said the earliest she can return to her home is not until Saturday.
An emotional Bryant-Rudolph told AM on Friday the scale of the clean-up is massive.
"In my honest words, it's going to be hell on earth and there's going to be people who wake up today and for many more days with tears in their eyes, more than the rain could provide," Bryant-Rudolph told AM co-host Melissa Chan-Green.
"So just remember everyone, love each other and help each other."
Bryant-Rudolph was forced to leave her cat behind whilst being evacuated from her home, which has left her devastated.
Incredible, Bryant-Rudolph only moved to Nelson three days ago and has already been forced out of home because of the weather.
"It's been an interesting three days welcoming to Nelson. We left the East Coast due to hopefully we're going to say warmer weather coming, but it's not happening anytime soon," an emotional Bryant-Rudolph said.
"Last year we had a pretty major hit to Westport, to the entire East Coast. The universe works in amazing ways, that's all I can say."
It's not the first time Bryant-Rudolph has been affected by wild weather, with a Buller farm she was working on devastated by flooding.
"We lost all our cows July last year, 1200 of them, so this year's been a bit of a replay, I guess you could say," she said.
"But there are many people out there who have had it worse, I'm sure, and there's a lot of us to help out, so all hands on deck."
Watch the full interview with Katie Marie Bryant-Rudolph above.
