Hawke's Bay residents warned to stay clear of rivers after storm

Hawke's Bay people are being warned to stay away from rivers throughout the region as the clean up gets underway after this week's severe weather.

All the region's major rivers hit 5-year levels during this week's storm, with the Tutaekuri at Puketapu and the Esk both hitting 15-year levels.

Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller Ian Macdonald says most of the region's rivers have returned to normal levels now, however the Lower Tukituki River is still flowing bank to bank and is expected to slowly drop over the day.

He says the public are being urged to stay away from rivers for the next few days.

"Many rivers and streams are still flowing fast and there is still a lot of debris around. Council work crews will be out cleaning up so we are asking the public to steer clear of rivers and stopbanks for the next few days," Macdonald said.

He said the storm was an interesting event as it was the first time in years where all the major rivers from Wairoa to the Tukituki reached at least 5-year levels, with some hitting 15-year levels.

The MetService has now lifted all weather warnings for Hawke's Bay and the forecast is for clear skies over the next few days.

State Highway 5 – the Napier-Taupō Road and the Napier-Taihape Road remain closed until at least 12.30pm.

For more information on getting ready to get thru a civil defence emergency visit www.hbemergency.govt.nz or visit Hawke's Bay Emergency on Facebook or Twitter.