If ever a weather event was deceptively named, it's Debbie.
Though her name may conjure up images of your kindly aunt, Cyclone Debbie has turned out to be far from kind.
First it wreaked havoc across the Tasman and yesterday it hit New Zealand. While the Bay of Plenty wasnot hit as hard as other parts of the North Island - in particular Whanganui - she still managed to inflict some serious damage.
Lake Rotorua was flooding over on to the paths and grass surrounding it, with choppy water making it look more like the sea than a lake. Meanwhile, wastewater overflowed from a pond at the city's wastewater treatment plant into a stream - for the second time in a month.
The base track on Mauao was closed for public safety while roads around the region saw flooding, slips cut off major roads and trees were uprooted.
When the rain subsides, the cleanup task will be significant.
One saving grace, as I write this, is that in our region we have not seen any serious road incidents as a result of the weather. Perhaps residents are taking heed of pleas not to drive unless they have to, or are just taking extra care. Either way, it's a relief.
More torrential rain was expected last night and today, so the final toll on our region remains to be seen. Please - be careful, be sensible and let's do our best to ensure that toll is limited to roads and land - and not human lives.
