Heaviest rain since Cyclone Gabrielle - Central Hawke’s Bay’s nervous river watch

Waipawa was inundated by Cyclone Gabrielle floodwaters.

While a heavy rain warning put in place for Hawke’s Bay on Friday was downgraded to a rain watch, Central Hawke’s Bay residents were already watching - mainly their river levels.

Posts on community Facebook pages showed a level of anxiety that hadn’t been evident before February’s Cyclone Gabrielle, which caused stopbanks to breach and homes to be evacuated.

Posts asking “What are the river levels looking like... how is everyone in Porangahau, are you OK? Where can I get sandbags?” were interspersed with people asking how friends were - and offering safe places should they need to escape any high water.

The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council told residents on social media: “We appreciate concern is high - particularly for those effected by Gabrielle, and should things escalate we have plans in place. While unlikely, based on community expectation particularly in Waipawa, this includes any required evacuations,” and assured the community that river levels were being closely monitored.

Most Saturday sport in Central Hawke’s Bay was cancelled ahead of the expected downpour, which the MetService said was expected to be 100-140mm in the ranges and bring the rivers to a potential “five-year” level, which could reach the toe of the stopbanks and cause localised ponding and flooding.

Central Hawke’s Bay’s roading network took the brunt of the downpours, with Taylors Slab on Herrick St and Hiranui Rd both closed due to flooding, Ngahape Rd closed due to a fallen tree, and Braeview Rd reduced to a single lane due to a damaged culvert.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council was quick to reassure the community that the region’s flood protection network was holding up and forecast rain wasn’t expected to cause any significant flooding.

“We don’t expect this to cause any significant issues, yet will monitor and maintain our operational readiness over the next two days,” the council’s asset group manager Chris Dolley said.

“We continue to monitor the Waipawa River at Waipawa closely and have local eyes on the ground and staff available on the very remote chance that we experience increased rain and river levels,” Dolley said.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said a large band of rain was sitting just offshore from Hawke’s Bay with some bad weather still to come, likely to ramp up again on Thursday.

“We’ve got another low coming in from the Tasman Sea that’s going to be directing a lot of moist northeasterlies over the country,” he said.

MetService modelling showed there was a low confidence of heavy rain for Hawke’s Bay on Thursday and Friday. Bakker said MetService would continue to update this as more information came to light.

The Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (HBCDEM) encouraged the public to keep up to date with the latest forecasts.

“There is still uncertainty with the distribution and intensity of the heaviest rain,” a Facebook post from the HBCDEM read.

“Please keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case this watch is upgraded to a warning or new areas are added.”

River levels and flows can be monitored through the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council website.