More rain on the cards for flood-affected areas of Whanganui

MetService says two fronts moving up the country would bring some rain for the Whanganui area later today and tomorrow. Photo / File

More rain is on the cards for those in flood affected areas of Whanganui this afternoon.

There were two fronts moving up the country, which would bring some rain for the Whanganui area later today, and tomorrow, MetService meteorologist Rob Kerr said.

"There will be a period of showers for the Whanganui area. It's not a significant amount in the general terms but obviously they are quite sensitive to rainfall there at the moment.

"We are expecting showers to start around the hills, just some light stuff, from this afternoon maybe getting a bit heavier towards the evening, and then easing overnight.

"This is nowhere near on the same scale of the event recently, this is more just a period of showers, we are talking a few millimetres of rain at a time really, as opposed to the heavy stuff we had before."

Spokeswoman for Wanganui Civil Defence, Sue Dudman, said while the rain was not forecast to be as heavy as last weekend, there was still some concern.

"Obviously that's a concern, we've already got so many slips and things on our roads, so we do expect that there will be more stuff coming down.

"But obviously it's not going to be anything like we've had."We're just asking people if they are out on the roads which are not cleared, just to be careful."

She said volunteer groups had done an amazing job of beginning to clear rural roads in the area, but there was a long road ahead.

This afternoon, Prime Minister John Key will take part in an aerial tour of flood-affected areas with Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye.

Meanwhile, 20 households had been red stickered due to damage from the floods, and 200 rural households were still isolated.

Isolated areas were being assisted by helicopter services, and Red Cross and Rural Fire were also visiting residents to check on their welfare.

The Whanganui Civil Defence was continuing to update residents on its Facebook page.