Bay of Plenty's main arterial routes for traffic in and out of Tauranga were shut off on Friday after Cyclone Cook wreaked havoc on the roads.
State Highways 29, 2, 30 and 33 were each closed after downed trees, and major slips swamped roads in and out of the Bay.
State Highway 29 was closed on the Waikato side of the Kaimai Range for most of yesterday while contractors worked to remove a large slip.
State Highway 2 near Pikowai camping ground on the Matata straight was closed because of fallen tree and power lines and was expected to reopen last night.
State Highway 33 and 30 were closed due to a large tree across the road.
Civil Defence was expecting to open SH2 Edgecumbe by tomorrow following the devastation caused by Cyclone Debbie.
State Highway 2 in the Karangahake Gorge was down to one lane for most of the day, and several other roads in the region were also closed. These included Grenada St/Sandhurst Dr, Welcome Bay Rd - closed from Rocky Cutting Rd to Te Puke Highway, State Highway 2 closed at Bruce Rd eastbound after Otamarakau, and Kauri Point Rd which was closed due to a large slip.
Traffic travelling down from Auckland to Tauranga became caught up in congestion at Karangahake Gorge which was so bad in the afternoon; it took one woman an hour to get from Paeroa to the middle of the Gorge.
Slips at Te Puna Quarry Rd and Harbour Dr in Omokoroa were also being assessed.
Tauranga woman Lee Rowe had to rearrange plans to pick up her student son who was travelling on a bus from Auckland to Tauranga for the school holidays.
"There was a roadblock with police at the Matamata turnoff advising people that SH29 over the Kaimais was closed," she said.
The bus attempted to get through but was unable and eventually turned around to travel to Tauranga via Rotorua instead, Ms Rowe said.
In the Eastern Bay, State Highway 34 was closed at Otakiri between Edgecumbe and Te Teko because of fallen power lines and should reopen late this afternoon.
New Zealand Transport Agency's Natalie Mankelow urged people to avoid travelling through the area or at least expect delays due to some closures or partial blocking of highways.
Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council urged people to take care and to stay at home and off the roads if possible.
In a statement, the council asked people to treat all downed power lines as live and to stay clear of any that were on the ground or low-hanging. If people saw sewage overflows, slips, or downed trees, report them to the local council, either Western Bay of Plenty District Council on 07 571 8008 or 0800 WBOPDC or email customerservice@westernbay.govt.nz.
OR Tauranga City Council on 07 577 7000 or email info@tauranga.govt.nz.
The sore points
• SH34 Edgecumbe to Te Teko, the road was closed because powerlines were down. A detour was in place.
• SH2 near Pikowai camping ground on the Matata straight was closed because of a fallen tree and power lines. This road was expected to open later in the day. The detour was via SH30.
• SH29 Kaimai Range was closed but had both lanes open by 3pm.
• Further debris was falling on SH2 at Waimana Gorge. The road was closed because of a significant slip that required more investigation and works to bring the slip material down from the top. It could be another two weeks before this is open.
• SH2 Pekatahi Bridge remains closed because of the re-decking project. Some of the decking was swept away and scaffolding damaged in flood waters. This is not expected to reopen for some time.