Hawke's Bay awakes to road closures, weather warnings and no sign of the sun for several days

Warnings and closures remain the theme of the day for Hawke's Bay motorists with Wairoa still cut off from the south by slips and flooding for the third day.

The Waka Kotahi NZTA's website says to avoid the (SH2) area or delay your journey if possible. "Due to flooding and slips, the road is now closed. No detour is available."

The road will remain closed until at least noon on Friday.

"Contractors have been out today, clearing the road, and have made good progress," the website said.

"However, there are still slips and rockfall on the road, making it unsafe to reopen."

Over the next week, National weather agency MetService is forecasting that there won't be any sunshine in the region until Thursday, with heavy rain looming again on Sunday and Monday.

On Friday, MetService is forecasting periods of heavy rain bringing a "further" 90-130mm of rain.

Friday's rain is expected to be heaviest between 7am and 10am, before easing off.

Southwesterly gusts of about 30km are expected throughout the day.

Wairoa is likely to cop the worst of the day's bad weather, with a heavy rain warning in effect for Hawke's Bay, with an extra 30mm expected in northern areas.

A strong wind watch is also in place from 3pm on Friday when severe gales are expected in exposed places on the coast, including Wairoa.

Rainfall since Wednesday morning has been more than 200mm in some places and commonly exceeded 130mm throughout Hawke's Bay – considerably more and over a wider area than forecast by national weather agency MetService

On Friday morning, a Waka Kotahi 'area warning' was also in place for the section of the Napier-Taupo highway, from SH5 Napier to Waipunga.

''Due to forecast severe weather, road users can expect surface flooding, slips, heavy rain and uneven road surface in the area. Take extra care.''

SH 38 at Frasertown, at the intersection Pakowhai Road, was also closed overnight.

As of 9.30pm on Thursday, the closure came with the warning "No detour available. Avoid the area or delay your journey if possible. Please note that Awamate Road is also closed."

Meanwhile, Hawke's Bay Civil Defence is urging people who live near the water, to keep an eye on forecasts and warnings.

"If you are close to a river, stream, drain or other type of waterway – particularly if you live in Central Hawke's Bay and areas north of Napier – Eskdale, Tutira, and Wairoa – please keep up-to-date with the forecasts and be prepared to evacuate.

"Keep your emergency grab bag near.

"While the forecast is not as bad as it was (Wednesday), things can change quickly.
If you feel you, your family and/or your property are at risk, leave immediately and contact emergency services on 111."

Elsthorpe School principal Sandy Crawford announced in a Facebook post that the school would be closed on Friday due to the heavy overnight rain and forecast.

This will be the second day in a row the school has been closed due to weather conditions after closing due to the road conditions on Thursday.