Wet weather over Napier on Wednesday morning. Photo / Paul Taylor
Wet weather over Napier on Wednesday morning. Photo / Paul Taylor
Heavy rainfall is forecast to continue falling in northern Hawke’s Bay until late Thursday, but a heavy rain warning has been lifted for other parts of the region.
An orange heavy rainfall warning (the highest warning being red) is in place for parts of the region north of State Highway 5, including Wairoa and Māhia, until 10pm on Thursday.
Rainfall was forecast to be heaviest during Thursday morning in northern Hawke’s Bay, according to MetService.
All of Hawke’s Bay was initially under an orange heavy rainfall warning but that was downgraded to a heavy rain watch on Wednesday morning for areas south of SH5 - such as Napier, Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay.
For people in northern Hawke’s Bay, MetService is warning streams and rivers could rise rapidly from the heavy rain.
“Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous,” the warning said.
As at Wednesday late afternoon, no state highways were closed across Hawke’s Bay.
However, some local roads were closed due to low-level bridges in the Wairoa district, including Hereheretau Rd, Kotare Rd, Mangapoike Rd and Glenbrook Rd.
There is also a 30km/h temporary speed restriction in place along SH2 near Eskdale, north of Napier, due to surface flooding.
SH2 was closed temporarily due to flooding near Nūhaka on Tuesday afternoon in northern Hawke’s Bay, but was reopened within a few hours.
An image taken from social media of flooding on SH2 near Nūhaka, in northern Hawke's Bay, on Tuesday afternoon. That road was temporarily shut but reopened on Tuesday evening. Photo / Facebook
Firefighters helped assist one person from a car in floodwaters in that area on Tuesday afternoon, but had not had any further rescue callouts as of Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council has asked Waipukurau residents to conserve water.
“Due to an increase in turbidity (clarity) of our drinking water, we are asking Waipukurau residents to conserve water where they can,” the council said on Wednesday morning.
“The request to conserve water is to delay any potential boil water notice in the event that the turbidity continues to increase during the day.
“The water remains safe to drink and we’ll keep you posted as soon as we see any major change. In the event that the turbidity continues to increase, we will be required to issue a boil water notice for Waipukurau.
“All of our remaining supplies remain unaffected.”
Wairoa District Council residents were also being asked to “not rush to flush” as Wairoa’s wastewater system was becoming overwhelmed by heavy rain.
“We need your help. Please keep your household wastewater to a minimum - showers, baths, toilets etc,” a post read.
The mountain ranges have received the highest levels of rainfall in Hawke’s Bay, including over 200mm at Parks Peak in the Ruahine Range on Tuesday.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
