State Highway 2 is closed between Paeroa and Waihī following a slip.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has asked motorists to avoid the Karangahake Gorge area or delay their journey if possible.
It comes after MetService issued a red heavy rain warning for the Bay of Plenty west of Kawerau between 3am to 9pm tomorrow when up to 150mm of rain is forecast at rates of up to 25mm/h.
MetService says this rain is expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities.
Tauranga City Council civil defence controller Mike Naude said now was the time to think about where people would go if they needed to evacuate.
“We are urging people to be prepared, and stay out of floodwaters,” says Naude.
“Floodwater may look calm, but those conditions can change really quickly, with devasting consequences.
“People need to stay out of floodwater and take extra care around stormwater drains, culverts and manholes which become powerful suction devices that can sweep away a child or adult in an instant.”
Council contractors have been out checking on outlets, stormwater pumps, flap gates and drains throughout the day.
Tauranga Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said the safety and well-being of the community is the top priority.
“With more extreme weather to come, our message is for everyone to look after each other, and check in on whānau, friends and neighbours.”
The whole of the Bay of Plenty had been under a MetService orange warning, however, after discussion with the councils, Civil Defence and their teams on the ground, it was upgraded to red over the western parts of the Bay of Plenty.
MetService meteorologist John Law said this was due to ground saturation and high river levels, which mean it “won’t take much of a top-up to see significant impacts”.
“Since 9am on Friday 27th January, Tauranga Airport has seen 18cm of rain, Whakatane 9.5cm and Rotorua 20cm which is an impressive amount.
“This rainfall has the potential to bring severe impacts to the area including dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities.”
The red warning includes Rotorua Lake District, Western Bay of Plenty District and Tauranga City.
Red warnings were reserved for the most extreme weather events in which significant impact and disruption were expected.
It signifies that people need to act now as immediate action is required to protect people, animals and property from the impact of the weather. People should also be prepared to follow the advice of official authorities and emergency services.
Severe weather warnings remain in place for many parts of the north of New Zealand including Northland, Auckland north of Orewa and the Coromandel Peninsula.
Along with the heavy rain and localised downpours, northeasterly winds are forecast to strengthen this afternoon across Auckland and Northland, potentially becoming severe gales in exposed areas.
Anita Saunders said she and her husband live at the end of Moresby St in the Karangahake Gorge. When her husband learned of the slip from a Facebook post he ran down to the site which is about a five-minute walk from their home.
“The slip is only about 20 feet (just over 6 metres) from where a smaller slip had closed one lane a couple of weeks ago.”
Saunders said the latest slip was on a bend just before the Crown Hill Rd footbridge and a lot of other locals soon turned up to get a closer look.
“I think there will be lots more slips as there are little bits of stuff still falling down near the bottom of this slip even as we were standing there.”
A lot of cars were doing U-turns realising they couldn’t get through but she was unable to say how big the traffic snarl-up was around the corner, she said.
Saunders said a big orange truck had swerved to avoid the slip and the driver was the “hero” of the day as far as she was concerned.
“After some locals and a logging contractor on the scene chainsawed some of the branches, the truck driver unhitched his trailer and towed some large tree roots away to help clear a path.
“The driver of a black SUV also towed away a large branch. The gap was then wide enough to get the big trucks through and clear the backlog of traffic.”
“Many cars did u-turns before the path was cleared. There is a broken stormwater pipe at the top right of the slip pouring out water onto the slip face.
“I’m not sure if this contributed to the slip or if it got broken during it, but heavy Old Man’s Beard climber growth will be contributing to the weight of the vegetation on the hillside. We’ve had two trees on DOC land near us fall for this reason, one of them onto the side of the tunnel bridge just recently.”
Anita Roest and her husband are co-owners of Riverside Accommodation in Karangahake Gorge, and two sets of couples and themselves were now stranded.
Roest said because this slip was around the corner, they had not seen it personally and only learned about it after she returned home from a shopping trip in Waihi.
“I did get stuck in traffic coming back from Waihi but fortunately I managed to get home safely. We and our guests are doing okay although my husband normally commutes to Tauranga every day for work.
“No one was panicking as we are used to slips in the gorge and the contractors are pretty good at clearing them quickly, and at least the river has dissipated compared to what it was a few days ago.”
Meanwhile, Waipuna Hospice chief executive Richard Thurlow said the Wairoa River had receded significantly and the good news was the hospice’s Te Puna main building was unaffected, although the bottom sheds did get some damage.
“Due to further heavy rain forecast for Wed and Thurs, and the Wairoa catchment being very water-logged, we will be keeping the site closed for the rest of this week and the sole patient being cared for at the Te Puna site was relocated to the Age Care Facility Althorpe on Saturday.
“I am making this decision no due to any risk to buildings but more due to potential loss of access along Te Puna Station Road and possibly of a slip nearby.”
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Source: Tauranga City Council
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