National media were on hand to capture footage of the damage along Queen Charlotte Drive, some of it described as significant as that caused by the Kaikōura Earthquake.
In the same way Marlborough's East Coast changed forever following the Kaikōura earthquake, so too will the familiar landscape of some of our region's rural communities likely remain scarred.
Members of the local and national media got to see this damage yesterday on a Council-arranged 4WD convoy along Queen Charlotte Drive and Kenepuru Road, currently closed to the public.
For the majority of Marlborough's population life has returned to normal after the July storm event.
However, the rural communities of the Waihopai and Awatere Valley and Marlborough Sounds' residents along Queen Charlotte Drive, Kenepuru and Kaiuma Bay Road remain without, or with very limited, road access.
These residents and communities face a long journey back to normality, said Marlborough's Recovery Manager Dean Heiford. In some places, in particular in the Marlborough Sounds, the roads as we knew them will never be the same due to the extent of the damage caused. It was an already vulnerable network which makes the task even more complex.
It's been said, in places, some of the damage is as severe as that seen following the Kaikōura Earthquake. It's a humbling reminder of the power of Mother Nature.
There is no substitute for seeing the damage first hand to understand the sheer scale of the remedial work required. It also makes it hit home how close some of our Marlborough Sounds' residents were to harm, said Dean.
The 1.9km long Pukenui slip, near the community of Moenui on Queen Charlotte Drive, is one example where the hillside gave way, taking a couple of unoccupied properties with it and leaving one, with holidaymakers sheltering inside, behind.
More than 25,000 cubic metres of soil and rock has been removed from slips along Queen Charlotte Drive, Kenepuru Road and Kaiuma Bay Road since the storm. Early estimates predict more than 100,000 cubic metres of spill material will have been removed by the end of the clean-up.
One of the worst road slumps just before Ohingaroa Bay on the Kenepuru Road will take two months to fix and is likely to cost close to $600k, according to Marlborough Roads manager, Steve Murrin. This is the worst I have ever seen Kenepuru Road affected in all the 32 years I have been associated with roading in Marlborough, he said.
A recovery team to bolster resources for the region's major road and bridge rebuild, dubbed the Road to Recovery', is due to arrive soon to redouble Marlborough Roads' efforts.
Geotechnical engineers have already largely completed their assessments of the damaged roads and slips around the region and reinstatement works have started in many areas.
More than 125 contractors and sub-contractors are on the ground working to get the road network back up and running.