Rains ease in lower North Island as clean up continues

A state of emergency continues in Rangitikei district today while other central North Island regions continue clean up operations after days of battering by heavy rains.

The Rangitikei area is no longer in a state of emergency, Civil Defence has confirmed.

A spokesperson said the warning was lifted just before 9am.

In Wanganui a helicopter was headed to the nearby Ahuahu Valley to deliver supplies to nine families cut off by slips, National Radio reported.

Two people returning home after being left stranded in the town overnight were also aboard.

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples said the weather was now fine and breezy and there had been no rain overnight.

The Ruamahunga River was still running very high, but dropping every hour, she said.

"We're starting to feel quite a bit happier."

All the main roads in the area were open, with some work being carried out on the road heading to the coast.

"With some of the smaller rural roads, it could be two or three days before we can get to them. We're just getting to everything as fast as we can."

Rangitikei Civil Defence controller Leigh Halstead said this morning there had been no significant rain since midday yesterday.

"At the moment things are improving, in that all the river levels are down. There's still considerable water and flooding and washed out roads and drop-outs on roads."

The focus now was on recovery, he said.

At first light this morning Civil Defence was despatching the first crews of workers to assess the situation and establish what needed to be done.

Mr Halstead said all rivers had receded and evacuations were finished just on dark last night.

Forty people were taken from Whangaehu Beach Road by helicopter and about 85 people self-evacuated from Whangaehu and Turakina, he said.

Only about 10 people stayed overnight at a welfare centre at Ratana.

"What we tend to find in these situations is that the community steps up and people go to friends and families places for the most part."

He said he understood the motels and hotels around the area were now "pretty full".

Police in the region had worked overnight to ensure security in evacuated areas, Mr Halstead said.

Roads were still affected by the recent rain, with State Highway 3 passable. A number of smaller roads in the area were still closed due to slips, he said.

Today dozens of contractors would be working on the roads and the slips and council roading engineers touring the area.

"I estimate many millions of dollars damage to the council's roads and massive damage to farms in the hill country, from slips, and those on the flat," Mr Halstead said.

In the Manawatu and Wanganui region all rivers were receding and there had been no significant rainfall for some time, Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council incident controller Alan Cook said today.

"Essentially we're just reverting to a normal monitoring mode and watching all our river systems but given the present forecast we don't anticipate any further problems today."

The area had not been declared a state of emergency.

"We had a breach in a stop bank in one of our drainage schemes near Rangiotu and there's water flowing out into a ponding there.

It had the potential to get into one or two houses there," Mr Cook said.

In the Wairarapa all roads around Masterton are now open, the weather is fine but windy, and rivers are receding, emergency management officer Paul Walker said.

The Masterton District Council was dealing with some sewage problems in the urban area, Mr Walker said.

Around Carterton there are major roading problems, emergency management officer Robert Millar said.

Although almost all roads were open, motorists were advised to take extreme care as many roads were still in a dangerous condition, he said.

Today work crews would be attending to sewage which had entered through gully traps of about six properties, Mr Millar said. "A work crew will be going out and cleaning any mess that may be there and spraying disinfectants."

- NZPA