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Houses were evacuated and schools and businesses closed today as torrential downpours caused severe flooding in parts of Hawke's Bay.
A Ministry of Education spokesman said eight schools in Hawke's Bay were closed due to flooding.
Maraekakaho School west of Hastings and Puketapu School west of Napier were the worst affected with water rushing through classrooms at one stage at Maraekakaho and school grounds left under water at Puketapu.
Army unimogs were used to evacuate students from the schools.
Others, including Napier's Hukerere College, were closed voluntarily.
Five houses at Maraekakaho were evacuated, with residents temporarily relocated to homes of friends and family.
Other residents in the rural Napier-Taihape Rd area were trapped by high water levels across roads.
The Hastings suburb of Flaxmere was the worst of the urban areas to be affected with businesses and public centres such as the local library and swimming pool complex forced to close because of flooding.
Civil Defence emergency management controller for Hastings district, Mike Maguire, this afternoon said the rain had eased and some facilities re-opened but the flooding had caused lingering problems.
"Drivers are being asked to drive carefully especially on the main highways. There are slips and some surface flooding on a number of roads and drivers should take care. We are asking people to minimise any non-essential travel," he said.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council asset manager Mike Adye said State Highway 50 was closed west of Hastings after water washed over a bridge and the bridge would need to be structurally assessed before the road could re-open.
Other roads in the Maraekakaho and Kereru area had been affected by water and slips.
Mr Adye said more rain was forecast and authorities would need to closely monitor highways linking Napier to Taupo and Wairoa for slips.
Metservice forecaster Oliver Druce said in the 24 hours until 4pm today Napier recorded 91mm of rain and Hastings 46mm.
However, rain gauges in the Ruahine Range inland from the cities had recorded as much as 142mm.
A severe weather warning remained in place for Hawke's Bay with more falls predicted tonight before the front was expected to move north and weaken tomorrow.
Residents in Maraekakaho have been advised not to use their household water supply following the flooding.
"Households with bore water should use the tanked water brought in until such time as council staff are able to verify that the water is safe to use," Hastings District Council spokeswoman Jessica Soutar Barron said.
Fire Service representatives were carrying out house to house assessments in the area checking for damage and a building team from the council would do the same tomorrow.
Soldiers from the army's Napier-based Wellington Hawke's Bay battalion were put to good use in the Maraekakaho and Puketapu communities after the flooding.
Four Unimog trucks were dispatched to the areas at the request of police this morning.
Two of them were used to rescue children trapped in a classroom at Puketapu School and another two took pupils away from Maraekakaho School and helped families trapped by floods in the area.
Six Unimogs and 20 army personnel will be on standby tonight to assist authorities if further help is needed.
- NZPA
