Flooding clean-up under way across the Bay of Plenty

Charlie Roche helping his son Logan Roche cleaning up the mess at Katikati Firestone workshop on Sunday after the Uretara Stream burst its banks. Photo/File

The cleanup after Sunday's deluge continues, with Katikati businesses still mopping up mud and debris affecting access to some roads and reserves.

A Western Bay of Plenty District Council spokeswoman said a lot of debris, including trees and rocks on the sides of road and under bridges, still needed to be cleared away.

The council received about 65 weather-related requests for assistance over the weekend.

Rocky Cutting Rd, Welcome Bay and Reid Rd were down to one lane, but the roads were "passable" with warning signs in place. The Upland Rd bridge was damaged by debris and the road remains closed, the spokeswoman said.

Wharawhara Rd bridge and Waiau Rd bridge may also need repairs and were also being assessed by contractors and council staff.

Further slips were also discovered at the Kauri Point Historic Reserve and geotechnical engineers were being called in to inspect the site as soon as possible. People are advised to stay away from the roadway to the jetty and the edge of the cliff tops around the reserve.

A Tauranga City Council spokeswoman said the council received 49 service requests on Sunday, most related to flooding on roads. Two streets that were closed, Grenada St and Stevenson Dr, have been reopened.

Katikati Spice Traders co-owner Bhupinder Bhardwaj said the store was still in disarray after the weekend's deluge and there was lots of potentially water-damaged stock everywhere.

"While we had cleaners come to help us clean up some of the mess so we could open up the store, we will still need to get our carpets deep-cleaned to get out the smell."

Bhardwaj said their insurers were yet to visit to assess the damage. It would take the rest of the week to get things back in order, he said.

Katikati Firestone manager Logan Roche said things were "pretty much back to normal" after friends helped clean up the flooded workshop, which included hosing away about half an inch of silt from the front of the store.

"The only thing now is every time a car drives in about 5 kilos of mud comes into the workshop," he said.

Roche said flooding in the low-lying area had been an ongoing issue for some time.

"But there is not much you can do when this amount of water falls from the sky and the river rises fast and the water has nowhere else to go," he said.

More than 150 calls were made by residents across the district to the councils and emergency services about flooding.

Katikati senior firefighter Brendan Gibbs said the last weather-related call was received at 10.42am on Monday.

Yesterday morning he was also made aware of a property just before Tanners Point which needed the water pumped out of the house.

Te Puke fire chief Glenn Williams said the brigade was called to nine jobs between 7pm and 9pm on Sunday, including a car stuck in floodwaters on Number 3 Rd and several garages and basements flooding in Papamoa.