The council said residents should check their drains at home and clear debris. They should also have an emergency preparedness plan and ensure everyone in the household was aware of it.
In preparation for localised or surface flooding, sandbags could be bought from local hardware stores.
A Tauranga City Council spokesperson said staff were monitoring the weather and ready to respond if needed.
“Right now we are carrying out all our usual checks for when there’s significant rain on the radar.
“If residents need to report an issue they can call our contact centre 24/7 on 07 577 7000.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council team lead emergency management Jo Lynskey said it was carrying out usual pre-weather checks, had staff on call, and had alerted community response teams and other local partners.
“Our roading contractors are checking any high-risk areas for blocked culverts, and we have arborists and Geotech on standby, should we need them.”
Lynskey said a particular focus was the council’s earth dam at Waihī Beach, “which acts as a stormwater retention dam to help alleviate flooding along One Mile Creek”.
The dam had been drained to its low level after the recent rain and was ready for any potential flooding.
MetService said streams and rivers might rise rapidly and surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions were possible.
Heavy rain watches in force for parts of the NZ
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said there is a low pressure system to the west of the country that was not going away.
“It is going to be bringing bands of rain over the next few days while it’s around,” she said.
Heavy rain watches were coming into force for Auckland, including Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula, from 8pm, lasting 18 hours until 2pm tomorrow.
A heavy rain watch is forecast to come into effect for Taupō from 6am to 9pm tomorrow.
Makgabutlane said places under heavy rain watches could have localised pockets of heavier rain.
Niwa said: “Two disturbances in the Tasman Sea will drag tropical moisture into New Zealand from Friday into next week.
“The combined system will produce rounds of heavy rainfall, particularly in the northern and eastern South Island, possibly swirling in the Tasman for up to a week.”
MetService meteorologist John Law said the heavy rain and possible thunderstorms would also likely bring windy conditions, “especially overnight, Thursday into Friday, into the northern areas”.
For the South Island, heavy rain is forecast for Tasman from 6pm, lasting 24 hours.
Expect 120-150mm of rain to accumulate and peak rates of 15-25mm/h.
MetService said there is a chance streams and rivers may rise rapidly, and surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions are possible.
