25pc of annual rainfall in two days for Napier

Some Napier residents may not be able to return to their homes for months because of this slip on Breakwater Rd. Photo / APN

Napier has received a quarter of its annual rainfall in just a 60 hour period this week, the MetService says.

The Civil Defence yesterday declared a state of emergency for the Hawke's Bay region after flooding and slips closed roads and forced the evacuation of more than 100 people from 14 coastal communities.

From 10pm on Sunday, when the heavy rainfall began, to 10am Wednesday morning, 221mm of rainfall was recorded in Napier. The average annual rainfall for Napier is 813mm, while the average monthly rainfall for April is around 80mm.

MetService forecaster Geoff Sanders said the worst is over for the drenched region.

"They're still getting precipitation, but not great amounts. Just dribs and drabs."

Eighteen homes were evacuated yesterday morning after a huge slip on Bluff Hill, which blocked Napier's Breakwater Rd, while 14 trapped residents at Kairakau Beach needed to be airlifted to Waipukurau by a rescue helicopter in two separate missions.

Residents without power

About 450 Hawke's Bay people were without power yesterday, with access to affected areas the major problem for Unison crews, said customer relations manager Danny Gough.

"If the weather gives us a break we can get in there. The crews are ready to go ... we just need that access," Mr Gough said.

The Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group is leading the emergency response with support from the National Crisis Management Centre, based at the Beehive in Wellington.

Central Hawke/s Bay District Council spokesman Drew Broadley said yesterday a massive cleanup job lay ahead after extensive damage to coastal areas because of water, mud and silt.

Road damage would take weeks to repair but basic access could be restored to coastal settlements within three days.

Northland next in line for bad weather

While the Hawke's Bay can breath a sigh of relief as the foul weather passes, Northland is next in line for the wild weather.

Heavy rain has already caused flooding in the region and MetService warns more bad weather is on the way.

Top of North Island isolated

A small two-lane bridge on State Highway 1, 2km north of Te Kao, has been damaged by flooding overnight, and is impassable.

Police said the alternate routes of Ninety Mile Beach and the No2 Arterial Road are also unable to be used at this stage, leaving no other routes to the very top of the North Island.

Last night, isolated flash downpours in the Northland town of Mangonui flooded the town's waterfront, with volunteer firefighters called to five separate incidents in the space of an hour. An elderly disabled woman needed to be carried to higher ground when her pensioner flat was flooded, fire communications shift commander Jaron Philips said.

She was evacuated but last night emergency services were sand-bagging the hotel she was staying in.

Mr Sanders said strong easterly winds and heavy rain should hit the Northland region from Sunday.

"We are looking at a new system coming down from New Caledonia way. It is quite a deep low - a bit of a rerun [of the this week's system]," he said.

"The good thing about it is it is further west than the previous one.

"It is quite a major event but the fact it is further west mitigates the danger of that system."

- Additional reporting: NZPA