Ngongotahā Stream levels subsiding after peaking at over 5m
Western Rd residents in Ngongotahā were told to self-evacuate after heavy rainfall
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has activated its flood room, Rotorua Lakes Council has activated its Emergency Operation Centre.
Paradise Valley Speedway track flooded
Stream levels have subsided and Ngongotahā residents who self-evacuated have been told they can return home.
Torrential downpours caused the Ngongotahā Stream to rise, peaking at 5.39m at 10.35am on Tuesday, Bay of Plenty Regional Council said.
Metservice meteorologist Dan Corrigan said Ngongotahā had recorded the highest amount of rain in the Bay of Plenty, with 127mm falling in the 24-period ending at 3pm.
He said the rain started at about 10pm on Monday night.
The Rotorua Airport station recorded 43.9mm of rain in the same period, he said.
He said there had been “a real contrast” in the rain that had fallen west of Lake Rotorua compared with that east of Lake Rotorua due to winds “converging” west of the lake, which created a stronger uplift and heavier rain.
Looking ahead, Corrigan said the rain was expected to ease this afternoon and be “on and off” in the evening.
The weather in Rotorua on Wednesday would be a “bit cloudy” and showers “if you’re unlucky”.
Tauranga Airport recorded 31.7mm of rain in the 24-hour period ending 3pm on Tuesday.
He said the rain started at about 8pm on Monday night and finished at about 8am on Tuesday morning.
Corrigan said the forecast in Tauranga tomorrow was looking “fairly overcast” and there might be “a shower or two”.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council duty flood manager Ingrid Pak said it had deactivated the flood room at 2.30pm after reviewing the latest forecast from MetService and analysing the situation out in the field.
“We are now in monitoring status, which means our duty flood manager remains on call to maintain an overview of river levels, weather patterns and forecasts affecting the Bay of Plenty.
“We will continue to work in with local councils and other supporting agencies to ensure they have up-to-date data to make key decisions.”
Pak said the water levels of the Ngongotahā and Utuhina Streams were “slowly going down” but advised people to keep an eye on the Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Facebook pages for any further updates.
Utuhina Stream running at high levels on Tuesday. Photo / Ben Fraser
Just before 1pm the stream had dropped to 4.964m and continued to subside.
Rotorua Lakes Council’s latest Facebook post said Ngongotahā Stream water levels were dropping and it was not expecting further high-intensity rain at this time.
However, it and Bay of Plenty Regional Council would continue to monitor forecasts and water levels in all waterways across the district and respond as necessary.
Any residents of Western Rd or elsewhere who self-evacuated as a precaution could now return home but should remain alert.
Rotorua Lakes Council earlier advised Western Rd residents to leave their homes due to stream levels rising.
”Our advice is to go to friends or family but otherwise move away from the waterway to a dry, safe location,” Primary Local Controller, Stavros Michael, said.
He was not aware of any damage to homes at this stage.
Rotorua Fire Brigade senior station officer Barry Hogan said they were monitoring water levels at Western Rd and liaising with people in houses to make sure they were safe.
“The water is receding and with the current forecast we expect the water to continue to recede.
“The council has done some sandbagging at people’s properties and there has been some water get into mainly garages,” Hogan said.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council had activated its flood room in response to the high levels of the Ngongotahā Stream and was monitoring the situation.
“The operations team are out in the field, checking the condition of our flood infrastructure, assessing the weather conditions in key areas and pumping out flood waters from affected drainage canals,” the council said in a statement.
Fire and Emergency NZ said five crews had been at Western Rd providing help to those self-evacuating.
A spokesman said the situation was now de-escalating and two crews remained on standby at Western Rd.
Earlier, Western Rd resident Jacky James said Western Rd from about number 73 to towards the Agrodome had been closed.
She said the Ngongotahā Stream had breached in several places and Civil Defence crews were going door-to-door talking to residents.
She said the residents in the street had set up an “eyes on Ngongotahā Stream” group chat and the locals were now well rehearsed at ensuring everyone was fully informed on what was happening. She said often what the locals could see was more up-to-date than what the official records online showed so the group chat was proving invaluable.
”We set it up about two flooding events ago. It was up and running before the January floods last year and Cyclone Gabrielle and it’s really great for keeping in touch with each other.”
She said it would be good for locals and those in the area to remember not to drive through large puddles of water, especially in cul-de-sacs, as that often caused damage by pushing water back into properties.
In a Facebook post, Rotorua Lakes Council said staff will be out in Ngongotahā, going from house to house on Western Rd talking to residents and providing advice about self-evacuation but it will take some time for the team to reach everyone.
The post said council was also working with Bay of Plenty Regional Council to monitor stream levels and the incoming rain forecast.
The council has activated its Emergency Operation Centre however, this is not a declared state of emergency.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and all Civil Defence Emergency Management staff are on standby and ready to respond as required.”
Key information:
Advice is for Western Rd residents to self-evacuate until further notice.
Although this is currently a precaution, take something warm to wear and essentials (medication, baby food etc).
Take your pets.
If possible go to friends or family but otherwise move away from the waterway to a dry, safe location.
Reach out to your neighbours to ensure they are aware of the message.
Be ready to act quickly, floods can happen quickly and without warning.
Western Rd resident Lee-Ann Allerby said the Ngongotahā Stream, which threads through her backyard, was the highest she had seen it since they had lived at the property.
When the Rotorua Daily Post spoke to her at 11.30am, she was on her way home from work in Rotorua after her husband and son had alerted her to the rising waters.
”My son has sent me some videos and it’s the highest it’s ever been since we’ve been there which is six years.”
She said thankfully the council had removed bluegum trees at the rear of their property which would hopefully stop the water from clogging up.
However, she said time would tell if they would need to get out quickly.
She said she was only prepared to leave if things got really bad as they had dogs at the property and it would be hard to evacuate.
Precautionary evacuations are under way in Ngongotahā.
Rainfall amounts
The weather station at the TECT Park halfway between Rotorua and Tauranga reported 120.4mm of rain in the 24 hours up to midday Tuesday, MetService said.
Flooding at speedway track
A video sent to Rotorua Daily Post shows the Paradise Valley Speedway flooded as a torrent of water rushes down the terraces while Paradise Valley Rd was littered with large debris and fallen trees.
Rob Prior, who was staying in a motorhome nearby, said the flooding at the speedway peaked at 8.45am.
He said water was running down the terraced seating and filling the race track.
The rain had now subsided, with the waterfall slowing.
Police had blocked off about 100m of the road opposite the speedway and there were about 10 to 15 people at the scene.
He described the scene as “nuts” and said a jetski could easily ride on the field.
Rotorua Stockcar Club secretary and treasurer Sonja Hickey said her husband, Stan Hickey, had been at the speedway this morning and had been reporting back to her and sending photos.
”Years ago, the council raised the height of the road and since then, we haven’t had water come across the carpark like that.
”That’s the first time it’s got that high for a long time.”
Hickey said the extra water “loaded up the system even more”.
”It sounds funny but because we can’t actually do anything with that amount of water when it happens up there, it is actually designed to go over the terraces like that where it’s concreted. So no, we don’t have a lot of damage. It’s all very wet and still all under water but it has done what it is designed to do and go over the concrete area.
”Every couple of years we do get a little downpour up there and it does cascade over the terraces like that but not to that extent. It was a little bit more and lucky that we have got it so it works that way or else it would have been a lot more damage.”
Hickey said the water in the pit should be cleared by the end of the day provided there were no more “big downpours”.
Fenz said an unoccupied house in Paradise Valley was inundated by water and they had also been called to flooding at a residential property in Hamurana.
Rotorua Lakes Council said Paradise Valley Rd from Te Miri Rd to Velocity Valley was closed due to debris and flooding. Edmund Rd was closed between Homedale St and Nairn Rd due to flooding as was Apirana Rd at the Rongomai Rd end.
SunLive is reporting flooding at Walford Rd in Aongatete near Katikati has trapped people at home as the floods cover the one-way bridge.
“We are all stuck at home as we have a one-way bridge as our only way out,” resident Monique Wellington said.
Ollie Carratu took a video of near-horizontal rain and winds whipping across Tauranga Harbour from onboard his vessel near Bridge Marina at about 2am today.
MetService recorded the average windspeed in Tauranga was 50km/h at that time.
”We made sure all the mooring lines were in tip-top shape and the boat was ready to weather the storm,” he said.
”Everyone in the community seemed ready too, no local distress calls or loss of gear.”
Flooding of Walford Rd, Aongatete. Photo / Monique Wellington
Power outages in Western BOP
About 970 households across the Bay of Plenty region lost power last night due to extreme weather including high winds, lightning strikes and rain, a Powerco spokesperson said.
About 24 on Matakana Island of the original 197 were still without power after lines came down, and in Paengaroa 89 customers were waiting for their power to be restored.
In Waihī, 165 customers lost supply at midnight after vegetation blew into lines and fault crews were stood down due to the foggy conditions. It was back on by 9.05am.Te Puke also had houses lose power last night.
Severe weather watch lifted
A heavy rain watch was in place west of Kawerau until 11am, while a severe thunderstorm watch was in place until 12pm.
An active front is lying over the Bay of Plenty and moving slowly eastwards.
For Bay of Plenty east of about Te Puke, Waikato southeast of about Tokoroa, the Taupō area from the township northwards there is a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms with localised downpours of 30 to 40mm/h. The risk should ease from the west during the morning.
“An active front is expected to move eastwards across Bay of Plenty and Rotorua this morning bringing heavy rain,” MetService said.
“There is a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms with localised torrential downpours in excess of 40mm/h possible, especially about coastal areas, along with a chance of a small coastal tornado.”
The heavy rain watch for Coromandel was due to expire at 6am.
Fire and Emergency NZ said it had attended eight weather-related incidents in the region overnight, mostly to clear drains and a roof lifting in Matua.
A tree was also reported down at Okere Falls.
Flooding in Coromandel
Torrential downpours hit parts of Auckland and Coromandel overnight, bringing “damaging” amounts of rain to some spots.
Flooding has also been reported in the Coromandel. More than 40mm fell in an hour over the Coromandel Range and thunderstorms remained over the Kaimai Ranges just before 6am, MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said.
MetService meteorologist Dom Barry earlier said the “Tasman Sea Special” would see rain continue for most of the working week in the North Island.
“With these heavy downpours, we can expect to see some surface flooding. We need to make sure we get our people out there driving and staying safe when they are out and about.”
MetService said the low-pressure system and associated cool temperatures in the upper atmosphere, were expected to lead to unstable conditions in several North Island areas today.
