Heavy rain causes mayhem

A car was crushed into a barrier by huge rocks which closed the road to Wairoa twice yesterday. The car's airbags were triggered and it could not be restarted. Photo / Duncan Brown

A woman's car was swept across the road by a slip and wedged against bulging steel barriers on State Highway 2 yesterday, but she escaped injury.

It was the second of two closures of the road between Napier and Wairoa caused by heavy rain.

The slip included boulders as big as a car on the stretch of road known as Devil's Elbow, south of Tutira.

Crews had the road open by 9.25am but it was closed again at 12.20pm after the second slip, including large boulders, slid on to the highway,

The second blockage prompted authorities to close the highway at Whirinaki and Wairoa while the road was cleared.

Grader driver Vic Martin witnessed the crash.

"The slip came down and pushed her off to the side," he said.

The woman was ferried to safety by another road worker and Mr Martin collected her luggage.

Once her rented Holden vehicle had been pulled clear of the slip, attempts to start it failed.

"The airbags went off where a rock hit the side of the car and that triggered the side airbags. When they explode it automatically turns the car off."

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Hawke's Bay/Gisborne journey manager Oliver Postings said geotechnical experts were called in to assess the material above the slip.

"My concern is if they start clearing and the rest comes down on top of them, then we would obviously be putting our workers at risk, so they are just making sure it is safe," he said.

"If they make the call it is safe then we will start work to at least get it open to one lane."

A truck driver alerted the agency to the first slip which closed both lanes at 7.45am, 500m north of Tutira's Aropaonui Rd. A heavy-rain warning saw road crews on standby and clearing smaller slips in the area from 4am, NZTA regional highways manager Chuck Dowdell said.

MetService meteorologist Philippa Murdoch said rain consistently fell for the preceding 24 hours before the second slip, with 60mm to 70mm falling in the ranges.

Two stations reported 90mm and Hawke's Bay Airport 48mm.

"That's reasonably big numbers," she said.

Rain was expected to continue last night and today's forecast was rain easing to showers this morning, scattered in the afternoon.

Senior Sergeant Nick Dobson last night was recommending people travelling north "find other accommodation for tonight".

"There are a number of slips - it is not a good idea to go up there."

Mr Dobson said a vanload of nine prisoners bound for Gisborne had been redirected via Rotorua because of the slip on SH2.