Downpour forces families from homes

Heavy rain closed some roads in the southern North Island and forced a couple from their home in the Wairarapa coastal town of Riversdale on Wednesday night.

The couple had to be evacuated by the Fire Service as floodwaters rose, said Sergeant Andrzej Kowalczyk, of police central communications.

"The water was so deep that the fire appliance could not reach the house so a local's tractor was pressed into service."

The road leading into the Riversdale settlement had been closed due to surface flooding, he said earlier.

Others were also moved from their homes.

The road between Masterton and Castlepoint, on the Wairarapa coast north of Riversdale, was closed at one place.

Police and Civil Defence kept a watching brief on rivers, streams and flood-prone areas in the Wairarapa during the night.

MetService forecaster Erick Brenstrum said heavy rain had started in parts of the Wairarapa early on Wednesday, with the rainfall punctuated by extremely severe falls.

Between 5pm and 6pm on Tuesday, 57mm of rain fell at Castlepoint. From 5pm to 8pm, 115mm fell.

A number of streams in the area burst their banks.

State Highway 2 over the Rimutakas was down to one lane in places because of three to four slips, Mr Kowalczyk said.

Crews were working to clear the slips, despite strong wind gusts and heavy rain.

Police were yesterday asking motorists to either delay their travel over the Rimutakas or take an alternative route.

Masterton District Council civil defence controller Kevin Tunnell said most of the problems in the Wairarapa had been on the coast east of Masterton - from Mataikona in the north to Riversdale in the south.

Between about 5pm and 9pm on Wednesday, an electrical storm centred itself off the coast, turning streams on the coastal hills into torrents.

At Mataikona a stream turned into a river that went through houses on either side.

A couple in one house and a couple and three children in another had to be evacuated to a shed, which had electricity and a phone, Mr Tunnell said.

They spent the night in the shed.

Road slips meant they were still isolated yesterday morning.

At Whakataki, to the south, about six people had to spend the night at the local hotel because road slips stopped them going home.

At Castlepoint, a few houses had water through them, and at Riversdale, both the couple evacuated by tractor and another family were moved from their homes.

The worst of the weather had moved off by about 11pm on Wednesday.

Mr Brenstrum said yesterday that the rain had stopped falling in the Wairarapa and southern Hawkes Bay and was easing in Wellington.

He said parts of Marlborough were also affected by heavy rain, which early yesterday continued to fall in the Kaikoura ranges.

In Wellington, 85mm of rain fell at the airport in the 24 hours to 7am yesterday.

Southerly gales were expected to ease during the day, although gales would probably continue in Cook Strait, Mr Brenstrum said

But the weather was not all bad news.

"We've had 15 to 20mm in parts of Manawatu, which had been very dry and crying out for rain," he said.

"There are places like that tickled pink to have got rain without getting a flooding event."

- NZPA