The Rombouts' home in Brooklyn remained surrounded by mud, silt and debris two weeks after ex-cyclone Gita hit.

Those cleaning up in the wake of ex-cyclone Gita near Nelson are reaching breaking point and want to know where the official support is.

They say the Government's aid to Tonga is a kick in the teeth, given they are suffering too.

Clean up volunteer Claire Hutt said storm-affected residents near Motueka were exhausted and desperate for support, with "hardly any progress" made with the clean-up, two weeks on from the storm.

"They're in tears, then I'm in tears . . . it's been so draining," the Motueka community board member said.

"Some houses you don't even know where the gardens start and end."

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SUPPLIED "Little progress" on clearing land around homes two weeks after ex-cyclone Gita hit.

Hutt and Riwaka woman, Melissa Girvin, visited people around Riwaka and Brooklyn again on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the storm which brought down slips and forestry waste, covering properties with silt and mud.

Conditions at one home in Brooklyn, surrounded by sediment and debris, were "shocking", Girvin said.

"Nothing had been done" 14 days after the storm.

Girvin couldn't reach nearby homes in the Brooklyn Valley. "It's pretty scary up there . . . the road itself is pretty hairy, there are telephone wires down, hanging above the water."

Hutt had arranged a digger for the neighbourhood. The solo mum found it ridiculous that council workers had asked her to arrange help for people in distress.

BRADEN FASTIER / STUFF Logging waste litters Marie Palzer's horses fields in Marahau.

"They're relying on a housewife and a single parent, and team of volunteers that we've met through Facebook, to coordinate the clean up and provide food."

Girvin was still delivering food and water, and locals were getting in touch with about their concerns.

"I get asked probably each day about what's going on and why is no one here helping us?

"The concern for everyone is that we're going into winter, so we have more rain coming. And the waterways haven't been been cleared."

CLAIRE HUTT A picture taken from a home on Main Rd Riwaka, that used to be covered in grass, two weeks after ex-cyclone Gita.

One bridge had silt within a few inches, and locals feared that would cause more damaging debris flows in heavy rain.

Some people also felt government funding for victims of cyclone Gita in the Pacific was "a bit of a kick in the teeth", Hutt reported.

Eight homes were "red-stickered", or deemed uninhabitable, in the area, and in Marahau, just south of the Abel Tasman National Park.

Seventeen were "yellow stickered", for restricted use or access, there and further south in the Motueka Valley.

MICHELLE JAMES Mark and Michelle James' farm in Brooklyn was hit with waist high floodwaters and debris during ex-cyclone Gita.

Scores of homeowners around Riwaka had "begged, stolen and borrowed" a digger, and put the mess into piles in their back gardens, Hutt said.

Land where it had been removed was "still disgustingly smelly; months and months off from any kind of normality", Girvin explained.

Some people had had raw sewage on their lawns, and didn't want to go in their gardens.

One Brooklyn farm reported high E coli levels in a well they used for drinking water.

SUPPLIED Riwaka woman, Melissa Girvin, is delivering food and providing emotional support for people living in homes hit by ex-cyclone Gita.

Michelle James, who lives on the farm, was rescued with her daughter and four-week-old grandson, after waist high water swept through both her daughter and son's homes on the property.

They returned to "what looked like mud flats", with some fruit orchards lost to logs and silt, James said.

"You just wanted to get on a plane and get out of here because nobody could give you answers."

The council had been no help in advising how to get clean water. "You're not on the town supply so you're not our problem," James said they were told.

If the council had removed silt and gravel from ditches and creeks, the farm wouldn't have flooded, she maintained.

"If it hadn't been for Claire, we wouldn't be where we are now."

CLAIRE HUTT The view from a home on main road Riwaka. It used to be all grass area prior to ex-cyclone Gita.

Tasman District Council said its contractors were working to clear bridges and waterways as quickly as they could, but it understood residents' frustration.

"They haven't been forgotten," said spokesman Chris Choat.

MICHELLE JAMES Mark and Michelle James' farm in Brooklyn was hit with waist high floodwaters and debris during ex-cyclone Gita.

The council was only responsible for clearing public land and infrastructure, and didn't have the resources to clear all areas needed across the district.

It was working to assess the scale of the problem, and aimed to start advocating for more support from the Government next week, he said.

The amount of silt across the district posed "a huge challenge," Tasman District Council mayor Richard Kempthorne said.

He met with the Minister of Civil Defence Kris Faafoi on Thursday.

They discussed "what options may be available" for government assistance, including a mayoral relief fund contribution, the minister said.

"I have asked Richard to . . . get back to me on what the needs are locally."

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