She said the region seemed to be “handling the heavy rainfall fairly well” with some surface flooding and no serious issues reported. She urged people to keep an eye on updates, be careful on the roads and look out for surface flooding and slips.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council duty flood manager Mark Townsend said six rivers in the region were expected to reach the first warning level.
On Sunday, the Tauranga, Whakatāne, Waioeka and Otara rivers all reached the first warning level, but all receded that night.
Based on current modelling, Townsend said they anticipated that these rivers would slowly rise over the next two days, and all were expected to pass through the first warning level.
The Whakatāne River was expected to reach the second warning level.
“This means the river may overtop the river channel banks and inundate the area next to the river but is still within either a floodway or stopbanked part of the council’s river scheme.”
He said this was not expected to impact flood defences such as stopbanks.
The Kaituna and Paraiti rivers were also expected to reach the first warning level late this afternoon.
He said the regional council has instructed Manawa Energy to start spilling the Matahina dam as part of its “standard procedure” to take the pressure off the Rangitāiki River.
Townsend said this was done to prepare for increasing river flows into the dam.
“We do this to reduce the risk on communities below the dam by using the storage created in the dam to reduce peak flows from the dam.”
Downstream river levels were reduced from what they could be if this was not done.
He said it took pressure off the flood defences and protected the community.
During this time, water levels in the Rangitāiki River would remain higher than normal for a few days but would reduce slowly as the inflow into the dam reduced, he said.
Based on current modelling, which factors in information like rainfall data, river levels, tide movements and weather forecasts, he said it did not appear the rivers were at risk of overflowing.
As the weather event was more coastal, he said it put less pressure on the river catchments.
Rainfall amounts
Whakatāne recorded the highest rainfall in the region over the 36 hours to 8am today with 127.2mm, MetService said.
High rainfalls were also recorded in Waihau Bay 125.6mm, Ōpōtiki 112.8mm, Minginui, 82.2mm, Kaimai 75.2mm, Rotorua 43.6mm and Tauranga 34.6mm.
A slip was partially blocking State Highway 5 at Tumunui south of Rotorua. Police were also called to a slip blocking Waiotahe Beach Rd shortly after 5am.
Contractors cleared the road and both lanes are open now.
Coromandel is under a heavy rain watch until 3pm.
A Fire and Emergency spokeswoman said it had responded to one weather-related callout in the past 24 hours in the Bay of Plenty.
“This is for a current incident where Fire and Emergency received a report of a tree down across a road in Rotorua. ”
Stephen Glassey, a MetService meteorologist, said the atmospheric river would move northwest through the country today.
The weather was expected to be “changeable and unsettled” as the week continues, said Glassey, with showers expected each day.
Bay of Plenty Civil Defence took to Facebook on Saturday to warn residents of the incoming heavy rain.
“We are well-practised with these weather events in the Bay, and as we know, it’s always important to be prepared.
“Be prepared for any power outages by making sure you have torches and batteries available and you’ve got some emergency food supplies in the house,” the post read.
“Remember heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous, so please take care when travelling.”
