Chris Hipkins touches down in China, what’s on his agenda and when he’ll meet the President, New Zealand’s pothole plague revealed as motorists complain about the state of our roads and local state of emergency lifts for Tairawhiti but what a fresh weather system will bring this week.
Video / NZ Herald / Mt Ruapehu / NIWA
Eastern parts of the North Island are still being disrupted by slips, significant road damage and floods, and for some, there may yet be more rain on the way.
Later in the week, on Thursday and Friday, Auckland may see severe gale-force winds as a fresh weather system tracks through, along with rain on the west coast.
“It’s been great to see the relative calm across all areas,” he said.
“We’ve seen regional communities, iwi and emergency services, among others, well prepared and they’ve come together for our people.”
Rainfall tallies came in at 565 millimetres at Raparapaririki, inland from Ruatōria, 494mm at the Fernside Station telemetry station, inland from Tokomaru Bay, with a number of other coastal sites in excess of 400mm.
The temporary bridge on Bushy Knoll Rd, Tairāwhiti, is impassable - but hanging on - after heavy rain. Photo / Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Facebook
Mangapōike recorded 410mm and Waerenga-o-Kuri had 235mm, along with the Waipaoa Station receiving 227mm and Gisborne Airport 185mm.
Gisborne suffered washed-out bridges, wrecked roads and slips and falls due to the intense rain.
Flooding has caused State Highway 2 to remain closed in both directions from Whatatutu Rd to Mātāwai. The road will be shut until further notice, according to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency.
Due to two huge slips that came down on Saturday night on the Coromandel Peninsula, SH25 is shut between Tapu and Waiomu. The slips trapped motorists on the road.
Slips on SH25 in the Coromandel. Photo / Waka Kotahi NZTA
Waka Kotahi said contractors worked tirelessly to clear the slips, and expected the road to be open late Sunday evening.
MetService is warning there may be more rain on the way for the East Coast, and even small amounts can cause major consequences on the already sodden ground.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said the rain eased on Sunday evening, and a day of much-needed respite is expected today.
Tuesday will see more rain, but there is one bright spot in this new batch of dark clouds: the rain won’t continue as long as it did last week.
“The worst of it is over,” Glassey said.
“The rain that we’re expecting from now on is not anywhere near as bad as what they’ve seen over the weekend, over the last few days.”
As the week continues, the East Coast will get a chance to dry off as the weather switches to the other side of the country.
“So the last few days we’ve had kind of an east, north-east flow over the country which has been bringing a lot of rain into the eastern parts like Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay,” Glassey said.
“But it sort of turns around and we get more of a south-west westerly.
“So as we head towards the later part of the week, we’re going to see more rain or showers in western parts of the country and those eastern areas should clear out, and it also comes with some stronger winds as well.”
