Māhia's 172mm downpour: Sandbaggers and digger work to ward off water

MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for Hawke's Bay from 9am Friday to 9am Saturday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Rangi Kamau felt like Noah on his marae-ark as "big cats and big dogs" drenched Māhia.

It's been a wet start to November in Hawke's Bay, and MetService said the rain's not going away just yet.

At 9.20am on Friday MetService issued a heavy rain watch for the region from 9am Friday until 9am on Saturday.

MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said that in the last 72 hours, Māhia Peninsula had seen the most rain in Hawke's Bay, receiving 172.2 mm due to its proximity to the wetter weather in Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa.

"Areas that are closer to the coast and further south will see less rainfall, with Hawke's Bay Airport receiving 74.8mm in 72 hours. Places that are further north and closer to the ranges will receive more rain," he said.

Rongomaiwahine Iwi Trust manaaki taiao Rangi Kamau, who is based at Tuahuru Marae in Māhia, said it was hard to describe the amount of rain they experienced on Thursday.

"Copious, heavy, bucketfuls - there isn't an adjective that cuts the mustard to describe that rain. It was raining big cats and big dogs," Kamau said.

Kamau said pipes and drains in Māhia couldn't keep up with the amount of rainwater on Thursday, with Rongomaiwahine employees and whānau rallying to prevent flooding.

"At about 1pm a gang of 10 of us started sand-bagging and a small digger got to work to try and divert water that was gushing into our wharekai.

"It felt like Noah's Ark, with water surrounding the outside of the whare and going up the walls," he said.

Kamau said the residents had seen nothing like it before, but was grateful the marae suffered no damage from the downpour.

"There are slips around the Te Māhia School, drains blocked and Kaiuku Lane has flooded," he said.

Due to continuous rain over the last 72 hours, the rain watch is in place despite the predicted rainfall being below the usual warning criteria, and more was expected over the weekend.

"The region is in for a cloudy, wet weekend. Our attention has been on Gisborne and the extraordinary amount of rainfall there.

"While rain is easing there and in Hawke's Bay, we issued the watch due to reoccurring rainfall on already sodden ground," McInnes said.

McInnes said rain over the weekend will be steady but not overly heavy. Monday is set to bring some reprieve, with winds moving to the west helping to clear Hawke's Bay skies.

"There'll be the odd brief period when the rain gets heavier over the weekend but it'll be more showery, less persistent.

"It looks like 50-80mm of rain will fall in the next 24 hours in northern, inland Hawke's Bay areas and 20-30mm further south by the coast," he said.

Temperatures of 16-17C on Friday will increase to 18-19C on Saturday and crack the twenties on Sunday and Monday.

"While rain is set to continue, temperatures are on the up from here," McInnes said.