Road closures in Central Hawke’s Bay due to flooding, rain expected to ease

Heavy rain continued to fall in Napier on Sunday morning, along with most of the rest of Hawke's Bay. Photo / Ian Cooper

Some Central Hawke’s Bay roads have closed due to flooding on Sunday morning during a weekend of continuous heavy rain.

MetService forecasts still predict light at the end of the tunnel for the region, however, as a new week is ushered in and the rain eases off.

MetService upgraded a rain watch to a rain warning for Hawke’s Bay south of State Highway 5 and applied a rain watch to the rest of the region on Saturday.

Both were for nine hours on Sunday, from 9am to 6pm with a further 50 to 80mm of rain about the ranges and the eastern hills south of Hastings expected on top of what has already fallen.

MetService warned that the heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly, while surface flooding and slips were also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.

Updates through the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council social media and website starting about 9.30am said Taylors Slab on Herrick St in Ongaonga had closed due to flooding.

A detour was in place via Bridge St/Taylors Rd and SH50.

Not long after, at 10.30am, Elsthorpe Rd closed due to flooding, with detours north through Kahuranaki Rd to Havelock North or south on Mangakuri Rd to Pourerere.

About 1pm, Hiranui Rd was closed at the Pōrangahau end due to flooding and Ongaonga Rd had a single lane in place at 3.7km due to an overslip covering one lane according to the Council.

According to rainfall monitoring data from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Napier CBD saw 13mm of rain on Saturday and 16.5mm of rain on Sunday as of 3pm.

Kaiapo Rd in Hastings had 11mm of rain on Saturday and 15.5mm of rain on Sunday as of 3pm.

50.5mm of rain was measured at Kopuawhara Stream, Railway Bridge, north of Mahia o Saturday and 43.5mm of rain on Sunday as of 3pm.

Closer to the ranges, the rain was heavier, with Parks Peak getting 82.5mm on Saturday and 73.5mm on Sunday as of 3pm.

MetService meteorologist April Clark said there was “light in sight” once the heavy rain period ended, with the wet weather easing into showers on Monday.

“If it goes southwest tomorrow like most of the models are doing, then it should clear right out,” Clark said.

“There is a chance that it remains a little more southerly, but you will definitely be seeing an easing in intensity, if not a clearing, and the rain becoming more on and off rather than this persistent rain.”

She said the conditions will likely continue to improve until at least Wednesday.

Temperatures remain about average for this time of year in the region, with a high of 16C on Monday and Tuesday for Napier and similar conditions for Hastings and Wairoa.

The overnight low in Napier and Hastings for Monday will be about 5C.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group made a statement through social media on Saturday which said they did not have concerns about the level of rainfall expected.

“We can expect to see continued wet conditions for the Esk, Mangaone, Ngaruroro, Tūtaekurī, and Heretaunga Plains catchments, but we aren’t expecting any significant river issues, based on the current forecast,” the statement said.

The statement said there may be a one metre to 1.5m rise in river levels in Central Hawke’s Bay, meaning water may fill the river banks and some water may be seen on the berms.

“At present, this rainfall event is unlikely to cause any significant issues to the recent stopbank repairs in Waipawa,” HBCDEM said.

“We are keeping a watch on the situation and regional council staff are monitoring river levels around the region.”