Kauaeranga Valley Rd flooding this week. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
Kauaeranga Valley Rd flooding this week. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
Many local roads that were closed on Monday and Tuesday as the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Lola swept across the region have been reopened, the Thames-Coromandel District Council says.
Kauaeranga Valley Rd was now open, but the DoC section of it past the Visitor Centre would be closed from 11am today to clear slip sites.
Otamakite Rd was closed 2.7km from the start of the road due to a large over slip blocking the road.
A crew was heading there now to begin clearing work. It was expected the road would reopen by the end of the day.
Old Maratoto Rd remained closed at the ford due to flooding.
The Coromandel Peninsula started the day yesterday under a heavy rain warning but MetService downgraded it to a heavy rain watch for the 11 hours from 9am to 8pm.
Thames-Coromandel District Council emergency and crisis manager Garry Towler said yesterday morning the weather was causing issues with the roads on both sides of the peninsula.
This included a slip on SH25 at Ruamahunga Bay and flooding at Hikuai between Whangamatā and Whitianga.
The council said it had had reports of people moving signs and taking traffic management into their own hands.
“Please leave it to our roading contractors. If you spot any issues on roads report them to 0800 Highways (for State Highways) or our council’s call centre for local roads on 07 868 0200.”
MetService said a high-pressure system would be sitting over the country from next week through to the middle of the country.
“So that would tend to mean a lot more settled weather, which I guess, you know, heading into November people will be looking out for that, especially the regions that were recently affected by severe weather. It’s a good chance for them to dry out,” said meteorologist Lewis Ferris.
Ferris cautioned that lingering high-pressure systems can sometimes cause cloudy starts to the day.
