State Highway 25 in the Coromandel has reopened after flooding cut communities off from Whitianga this morning.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnef said instruments at Whitianga Airport had recorded 51.8mm of rainfall in the 12 hours before 11am today while 52.1mm hit Tauranga where rain was strongest between 3am and 11am.
100mm of rainfall fell in the same period east of Tauranga, through Te Puke and a little further inland, McInnef said.
Earlier today Simpsons Bridge was impassable with flood waters turning traffic around.
Simpsons Beach resident Kate Raye said she and her neighbours had never seen flooding like this before.
"At the end of our road the bridge is completely underwater. We've been here four years and our neighbours have lived here for 30 years. We got a heavy rain warning but we didn't expect it was going to be like this."
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Raye said the flooding cut the Simpsons Beach and Wharekaho community off from Whitianga and to get to shops and groceries they would need to drive half an hour to Matarangi.
"High tide isn't until 11.30am and it's still raining."
Bay of Plenty Civil Defence has warned the public to expect "periods of heavy rain with a risk of localised downpours of 25mm to 40mm per hour and thunderstorms."
MetService said a frontal system is expected to cross the North Island today, bringing a period of heavy rain.
Surface flooding was also reported in Tauranga this morning.
Tauranga City Council has reopened the Te Ara Tūtanga (Mauao base track) and Moturiki (Liesure Island),
It earlier closed the base track from 9.30am and Moturiki from 10.45am due to high swells.