Frustrations are bubbling up in Nelson, where dozens of homes are still uninhabitable nearly six weeks on from the devastating floods.
Thirty tonnes of mud and debris are still oozing into the Martichon's home.
"Seeing your place, our only asset like this - it's heartbreaking," resident Yuann Martichon said.
Newshub met the family a month ago, but not a single shovel of sludge has been moved since then because they're waiting on a geotech report.
"Nothing has changed so now we are just waiting, waiting," Martichon said. "We're getting pretty frustrated with the whole process.
"Every time it rains the water runs straight into the house."
So they're taking matters into their own hands and hiring a digger.
"It's going to try remove all the dirt on the deck," Martichon said.
Martichon's insurance company told Newshub it's doing all it can to progress the assessments under challenging circumstances and that a report is expected in several weeks once all the information has been gathered.
It's a process many Nelson residents are going through.
Thirty-four homes are still uninhabitable and 108 are yellow-stickered - which means they are damaged but safe to live in. Like Andrea Warn's home. Her previously red-stickered house is now liveable again.
"We're not allowed to sleep in the back bedroom so we've transferred the children to the lounge on mattresses but at least we can get back in our home," she said.
After sleeping in five different motels over three weeks.
"We didn't know where we were waking up some mornings," Warn said.
While over in Marlborough, the council is counting the cost of 670 kilometres of damaged roads.
"That figure is well over $100 million, and probably close to $200 million," Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said.
Some roads might not be repaired.
"That is a strong possibility. We feel for the local communities," Leggett said.
And communities may never be the same again.
"Life may have to change," Leggett said. "But certainly at this point in time, we want to make sure everybody is part of the conversation."
But it's a process that seems to be moving much slower than the slips that started it.
