Civil Defence kept busy in Ruapehu over the weekend

Flooding on Ohura Road last weekend. Photo / Supplied

Wet weather in the Ruapehu District kept Civil Defence and contractors busy over the weekend with flooding and multiple slips.

“The Ongarue and Ohura rivers both reached very high levels over Saturday and Sunday but are now predicted to start dropping throughout today (Monday),” Ruapehu Civil Defence Controller Clive Manley said.

“Ruapehu Civil Defence staff have been out around the district checking on communities and infrastructure and will be keeping a close eye on the situation over the coming week with more bad weather forecast.”

Manley said local people were responding well to the situation.

Roads would be cleared “as soon as possible”.

“We would urge people to stay home if they can but if they must travel to take extreme care on the roads and if travelling any distance to check with the Waka Kotahi NZTA website for road information before their journey.”

Opotiki Rd was closed due to multiple slips and State Highway 43 was closed for a period due to multiple issues, including a significant dropout.

Contractors widened the right-hand side of the road for traffic to get past.

At Nihoniho, the Ohura River reached levels that caused flooding between Matiere and Ohura.

There was a slip on Ohura Rd around 11 kilometres out of Matiere.

Manley said farmers initially had some concerns but were able to use 4x4 and ATVs to move stock.

He said while Ruapehu got off lightly compared to other districts, including Waitomo, where a state of emergency was declared, another period of bad weather was forecast for later in the week.

“We would urge people to prepare for the next period of bad weather expected over the coming days as it will come on top of already saturated ground.”