Peninsula gives sighs of relief as big wet ends

By PAUL YANDALL

COROMANDEL - Fears of massive flooding and property damage eased yesterday as the Coromandel Peninsula awoke with barely a drop of rain in sight.

Torrential rain in the region abated over Monday night, bringing relief to residents who had feared severe damage from burst rivers and high tides.

The 41 Auckland students stranded in the Kauaeranga Valley, south of Thames, made their way out late yesterday afternoon after an unplanned night at the Department of Conservation's Pinnacles hut.

And State Highway 25A to Tairua and Pauanui was clear yesterday morning, with little evidence of the flooding that had prevented access to the east coast towns on Monday.

Heavy rain in the region over the past four days had stretched emergency services as severe flooding closed roads, threatened homes, and blocked access to some east coast towns.

The MetService issued a heavy rain warning for the peninsula on Monday, expecting 50mm-70mm for the region until midnight Tuesday.

At Whitianga around 174mm of rain fell by noon on Monday, prompting dozens of residents at Buffalo Beach to begin shoring up the seawall and sandbagging properties before high tide.

Locals interrupted their normal routine yesterday morning and picked up shovels and sandbags as the last high tide of concern at 8.30 am began lapping over beachfront properties.

Fire Service and construction workers tended Buffalo Beach's newly installed seawall in a desperate attempt to ensure it was not breached.

But the damage was limited to some heavy erosion after stormy winds died and only 14mm of rain fell for the 24 hours preceding 1 pm Tuesday.

"I think we were lucky," said beachfront property owner Willem van den Akker.

"I haven't seen surf like this before ... but it hasn't been as bad as I thought."

Thames Civil Defence coordinator Ron White said conditions had eased considerably over the past 24 hours.

"We're watching Whitianga - they've still got a few [high] tides to get through," he said. "But we've barely had a drop of rain today, so it's looking up."

He said the Kauaeranga River and the Te Puru Stream had settled and road slips, most of them minor, had been cleared.

MetService senior forecaster Bob Lake said that although conditions had eased, the easterly weather pattern dumping rain on the North Island had not yet passed.

He said a heavy rain warning for the region had been downgraded, but warned residents that there was a high possibility of moderate and persistent rain over the next day.