Homeowners forced to evacuate

A combination of a king tide and heavy rainfall has caused flooding in Whakatane. Photo / NZPA

Bay of Plenty flood levels are dropping, but 15 people evacuated from their Whakatane homes must stay away overnight as regional council workers work to repair a 10-metre breach in a stopbank off the Whakatane River following heavy rain.

All evacuees had by tonight left a temporary welfare centre set up in Whakatane's War Memorial hall and were bedding down for the night with friends, family or in motels, Whakatane District Council spokeswoman Coral Hair said.

They were evacuated from seven homes around Fortunes and Paroa Road, west of Whakatane, a low-lying area inundated by floodwaters.

The situation will be reassessed tomorrow morning.

Regional Council Flood Duty Manager Graeme O'Rourke said staff and contractors were working with heavy machinery to repair the breach in the Te Rahu Canal stopbank, which had proven difficult to fill although it had been stablised with rocks, dirt and gravel.

As a result floodwater inundated the low-lying farmland, but with no heavy rain forecast for tomorrow, no more evacuations were expected, Civil Defence said.

Work on the breach continued while light allowed, and would resume in the morning, but staff would monitor the situation across the region overnight.

The emergency operations centre closed tonight, as a high tide at 11pm was not expected to cause further flooding.

Rain eases, roads reopen

The Whakatane River rose from 1m on Friday to a peak of 7.1m late Sunday morning. Since then, rain has eased and levels are dropping.

"It's looking good," Ms Hair said, although surface floodwater was expected to remain for some days on low-lying rural land until drainage systems could remove it.

Further light rain was forecast for later in the week, which would keep things damp and muddy, Mr O'Rourke said.

During the 2004 floods, the river reached 7.8m, forcing the evacuation of 3200 people as it flooded the Whakatane township, damaging over 200 homes.

Total rainfall in the region ranged from 199mm in Huiteiki, in the Ureweras, to 339mm at Waimana's Ranger Station, inland from Whakatane.

The NZ Transport Agency on Sunday re-opened several stretches of roads closed by flooding or slips, including State Highway 2 between Opotiki and Gisborne and another section between Opotiki and Taneatua. SH35 east from Opotiki was also re-opened on Sunday afternoon.

"Road conditions still aren't ideal out there so people just need to take care and its going to take us a couple of days to finish the cleanup operation," acting State Highway Manager Kevin Reid said.

- NZPA