Opinion: Warnings are there to keep people safe

If weather warnings are in place, it is best to listen to what officials are suggesting. Photo / Scott Yeoman

If areas are closed or warnings are in place for safety reasons, it is probably a good idea to follow them.

Tauranga has seen some crazy weather conditions over the last couple of days.

Waterways have overflowed, flooding has damaged workshops, waves have been lapping over roads and high winds have forced flights into Tauranga to be diverted out of the city, landing in Rotorua and Hamilton.

Despite weather warnings being in place for Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty, not everyone has been deterred from getting out and about.

While we were out and about covering stories created through stormy weather in Tauranga, we've seen and heard about a lot of antics which could be deemed dangerous.

We saw rubberneckers doing their part to cause traffic build-ups, we heard about a person having to be told not to go into the water during yesterday's rough conditions and we spotted kitesurfers flying through the sky in crazy winds.

We also saw die-hard walkers unfazed by wild weather, heading up Mauao for their morning walk.

The Tauranga City Council closed the base track around the popular reserve at 7am yesterday for safety reasons, however, the track leading to the Mauao summit remained open.

Two people who got around the track before the closure said it was dangerous and the "waves were huge".

Groups of people were also seen taking storm selfies amid heavy rain and strong winds overnight on January 4 and many people were parked up along the beachfront in Mount Maunganui watching the wild waves.

Luckily, none of these people were hurt.

However, it does make me wonder what makes heading out in wild weather, unless it is a vital part of the day, worth doing.

The Tauranga City Council also asked people to say off the roads unless they absolutely needed to travel but that did not stop the roads from being busy yesterday.

The wet weather looks set to stick around for this weekend with the next sunny day expected to hit on Monday.

If we have more crazy weather, try to follow all the rules and warnings to ensure you all keep safe.

This doesn't have to only apply for weather-related warnings, this should apply to everything - if you are warned off something, it may just pay to walk away.