Coastal dwellers from Castlepoint south to Ngawi were being warned to batten down the hatches yesterday as heavy rain was expected to lash the South Wairarapa coast overnight and through most of today.
Met Service forecasters were expecting 12 hours of heavy rain to fall from 2am to 2pm with predictions that totals would be somewhere between 70mm and 100mm.
The downpours were expected to not only affect the immediate coastal fringe but also to lash the eastern hills and the southeast corner of the district.
The heavy rain is being driven by a deep, slow-moving low to the west of the North Island which was directing a strong east to northeast flow over the country.
That low was being accompanied by another forming over the east coast, affecting Wairarapa, before moving off over the South Island.