Persistent rain has caused flooding and rising river levels and has triggered slips and cut off townships in the Bay of Plenty.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council is monitoring some overflow around the Lower Kaituna and Whakatāne/Tauranga Rivers.
Levels were the highest seen at the Whakatāne River seen since July 2019, the council said.
A large slip has come down on Valley Rd in Whakatāne, taking out power lines and cutting off power for a number of households.
Waimana Gorge will remain closed tonight from SH2/Station Rd at Taneatua township through to SH2/Wainui Rd, Waka Kotahi said.
“Crews will work until dark and resume slip clearance tomorrow morning. There was an estimated one metre of flooding across the road in certain places, as well as large areas of debris that have spilled across the road and down into the river.”
Earlier, the townships of Tāneatua and Rūātoki had been cut off. However, the slip between Awakeri and Taneatua on SH2 had been cleared so residents could now access Awakeri via the state highway.
After 4pm, Waka Kotahi advised that SH2 at White Pine Bush Rd was open for resident access only.
Wainui Rd is still open as a detour, for essential travel only. Meanwhile, Stanley Rd and Te Kooti Rd have been opened for residents’ access only.
“Our teams are working closely with the Whakatāne District Council to monitor this. Wainui Rd may be closed at short notice if these river levels rise significantly, and the road closure will be extended to Ōpōtiki,” Waka Kotahi said.
Contractors were also assessing a rockfall in the Waioeka Gorge.
“There are multiple slips and areas of surface flooding, and we simply do not have enough signage available to alert you to these areas,” the council said.
A Uzabus spokesman said Te Wharekura o Ruatoki, a rural school in Rūātoki, was closed again due to flooding on the roads.
Nukuhou North School, outside Whakatāne, was also closed.
A GoBus spokesman said all school buses south of Whakatāne - servicing Rūātoki, Tāneatua, Stanely Rd, Matahi Valley, and Nukuhou - had been cancelled today.
The council has also issued water usage warnings, with those in central Whakatāne, particularly those from north of Domain Rd in the Pohutu catchment, asked to limit the use of wastewater if possible as the system is overloaded with rainwater.
Ruatoki residents are advised to boil their water until further notice.
“This means don’t flush your toilets, limit shower use and let the dishes and washing pile up ‘til further notice.”
Bay of Plenty Regional Council flood manager Mark Townsend said current areas to watch included the Lower Kaituna and Whakatāne/Tauranga Rivers, which were both at warning level two as of 3pm.
“This means the river is higher than its normal river channel and has started to spill into the area next to the river, but is still within the floodway or stopbanks on either side,” Townsend said.
“We are also keeping an eye on the Rangitāiki River as spilling from Matahina Dam continues at a steady rate. This will slowly decline over the next few days and we will continue to work with Manawa Energy. While levels in the river will be elevated, we don’t expect to have any issues downstream of the dam.”
Townsend said other major Eastern Bay of Plenty rivers have been showing minor rises in their level but have not reached warning levels.
“Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s operations team is out checking floodgates, pump stations and drains. The team are currently working through a list of sites needing mobile pumps and these are being set up in various locations.
“While MetService has downgraded the severe weather warning to a watch, we will continue to monitor the river levels and rainfall data, to help inform decisions made by local agencies (such as Civil Defence and local councils).”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand deputy national commander Brendan Nally said crews were closely monitoring the weather warnings across the country.
“Decisions on deployments have been made today, based on updated forecasts,” Nally said.
“Although there is still some uncertainty about exactly where the rain will hit, we are ready to respond where we are needed. We have extra resourcing ready to be deployed at short notice.
“Our focus is on supporting our communities, some of which have already been affected by previous events this year, most notably Cyclone Gabrielle.”
The Whakatāne River has reached a second warning level in response to the rainfall and will continue to rise for a few more hours, according to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
“Over the past 24 hours, there has been rainfall of up to 230 millimetres in the catchment.
“We are advising farmers with stock on low-lying areas adjacent to the Whakatāne and Tauranga Rivers to immediately move stock to higher ground.”
The Te Rahu spillway on the Whakatāne River, near Awakeri, was operating this morning to relieve pressure on the lower parts of the Whakatāne River.
Water levels in the Te Rahu basin will slowly rise over the next 12 hours, and notifications have been sent to adjacent landowners.
Access to Ōpōtiki via Wainui Rd is currently blocked by flooding, due to the rainfall overnight.
The Kaituna River level is currently just above the first warning level, which means the river level has reached its normal channel capacity. However, it is slowly rising, and the council will notify landowners if it reaches the second warning level via their text alert system.
The Waioeka and Otara Rivers are currently below warning levels.
A heavy rain watch remains in place for Bay of Plenty, west of Te Kaha, until 6pm on Wednesday.
The Whakatāne district had 29.8mm of rainfall across three hours overnight - from 11pm to 2am.
He said while the rain would continue to fall, it would not be at the level it has been and the heavy rain was shifting to the west of the country.
He said while the heaviest of the rain has happened, the weather was still forecast to be a mix of rain and showers until Sunday across the region, with a risk of being heavy at times.
MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said in the 36 hours to 11am on Tuesday, up to 80mm of rain had been recorded in the Bay of Plenty.
Whakatāne recorded 79.8mm of rain, Rotorua 79.2mm, Waihī 74.8mm, Te Puke 68.8mm and Tauranga 37.7mm
In the Coromandel, about 140mm was recorded in the ranges, while closer to the coast up to 90mm was recorded.
Whangamatā recorded 89.4mm and Whitianga 33.2mm.
This was on top of the 278mm already recorded at Pinnacles Hut in the Coromandel Range in the 24 hours to noon on Monday.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council duty flood manager Peter Blackwood said on Tuesday to those living near the Rangitāiki River that the Matahina Dam will commence spilling over the next 24 hours, in anticipation of heavy rain forecast for later this week.
”Currently, the Lake Matahina water levels are at 74.5m and slowly rising. When this happens, and when we know rain is coming that will elevate these levels further, we work with Manawa Energy, who release a controlled amount of water to lower the dam level in the upper river catchment.
“We do this to reduce the risk on communities in the lower part of the river, by allowing the water to flow through early in advance of more rain coming in.
“This also takes the pressure off the flood defences and ensures everything is working together to help protect the community.”
The dam was to begin spilling in a controlled way until 2.30pm on Wednesday.
“This will result in lower parts of the Rangitāiki River running higher than usual during this period. However, the river levels will be well within the stopbank capacity of the river and are closely monitored by our duty flood manager as the situation develops.”
In 2017, heavy rain caused the Rangitaiki River to breach a stopbank next to Edgecumbe, causing widespread flooding across the township.
Blackwood said the Kaituna River had peaked, but teams would keep a close watch on the Whakatāne River, which was “still rising slowly”.
”With more heavy rain expected to hit the region later in the week, it’s important that residents keep an eye on the forecast, stay up to date with any information coming from Civil Defence or their local council, and stay prepared.”
Meanwhile, Rotorua Lakes Council says people living near waterways such as the Ngongotahā Stream should keep an eye on water levels.
He is 'living proof' of what can be achieved through people donating their organs.