Drone footage of flooding on Swamp Rd and the surrounding area in Puketapu, Hawke's Bay, on the Tuesday morning after Cyclone Gabrielle. Video / Matt Wheatley
Rural residents west of Napier are digging in for another potential deluge as the national forecaster warns of heavy rain for Hawke’s Bay until Saturday morning.
Puketapu locals were clearing trenches and forming new ones today as threatening skies brought rain and unseasonably cool temperatures.
With the area still saturated, many told the Herald they were concerned about further slips, still moving land and flooding which could threaten the homes that had so far escaped major damage.
Some homeowners were rushing to close the wounds from Cyclone Gabrielle as best they could. On Seafield Rd, a team of builders were like surgeons performing field surgery on a house, sowing up an enormous gash left by a landslide.
It has issued an orange heavy rain warning, and fears how the worst-hit regions will cope with a potential 48-hour deluge.
“MetService is concerned for vulnerable areas like Esk Valley and the Wairoa District, given that 150 to 200mm in those areas could have significant impacts given slash and silt through the area,” MetService meteorologist Amy Rossiter said.
The heaviest falls are likely from 3pm tomorrow, with peak rates of 20 to 30mm per hour possible.
Jonathan Demetrius is spending his honeymoon clearing trenches. Photo / Paul Taylor
Jonathan Demetrius, who was meant to have been glamping on his honeymoon after marrying on the Saturday before the cyclone hit, was instead helping neighbour Tony Diskin clear a trench.
They hoped their efforts would keep the water and mud from flowing over Seafield Rd and edging closer to their homes.
Dsikin, who has lived in the area for 18 years, said the stream at the back of his property had also changed course.
Darryl Chambers has been clearing the mud and silt from his shed and property off Seafield Rd. Photo / Paul Taylor
Further down the road, Darryl Chambers had dug a drainage trench in anticipation of more rain. His shed, and much of the equipment inside, was already caked in a metre of silt but he smiled when he started his digger.
Chambers smiled again when pointing towards the pigeons and chickens he’d saved from the floodwaters.
Steve Botterill travelled to the Esk Valley in his 1943 Chevrolet "puddle jumper" to help with the clean-up effort. Photo / Paul Taylor
Further north in Eskdale, at the Linden Estate Winery, Steve Bottrill is one of the dozens of volunteers who have travelled to Hawke’s Bay to lend a hand with the recovery effort.
The Lower Hutt man drove his restored 1943 Chevrolet CMP military truck, nicknamed “puddle jumper”, north and said he just wanted to help any way he could. Several people can already thank Bottrill and his military truck for rescuing their vehicles.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' NH90 flight was forced to land at Hawke's Bay Airport due to bad weather. Photo / George Heard
Today’s weather also forced Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to abandon his planned flight to Wairoa to witness the damage.
Low cloud along the East Coast meant the NH90 Hipkins was flying in had to be redirected to Hawke’s Bay Airport shortly after takeoff from the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds.
