REGION UNDER WATER

BY ROS BROWN, JOE DAWSON AND SHANNA CRISPIN
MARTINBOROUGH was isolated last night after widespread flooding cut all road access to the town.
A month's worth of rain fell on Wairarapa yesterday, with up to 120mm recorded in the 24 hours to 11am.
The drenching, which began to abate yesterday afternoon, caused flooding throughout the district, also cutting off the coastal towns and parts of South Wairarapa, and causing widespread surface flooding in Masterton.
A couple had to be rescued from rising floodwaters in Martinborough, while in Masterton water swept through a Masterton house and several properties suffered swamped lawns.
The main route out of Martinborough remained open most of the day but rising water levels meant all roads were closed by evening.
Masterton police said they had had reports that a man in a farm four-wheel-drive vehicle had managed to make it into the town by taking back roads around the Western Lake but they were not prepared to recommend the route to the public.
They also said a TV One news crew became trapped in flood waters when trying to reach the town from Carterton, having ignored two "Road Closed" signs.
"Obviously the signs were not a big enough clue," a police spokeswoman said.
The reporter and cameraman notified police of their predicament but were pulled clear by a passerby in a 4WD before police arrived.
Metservice forecaster Peter Little said the heaviest downpour came at 11am, when 12mm fell in an hour.
He said 6mm of rain in one hour is considered very heavy.
Gauges at the Waingawa and Waiohine areas each showed 100mm of rain, and central Masterton 120mm.
Although it eased yesterday afternoon, Mr Little said the respite wouldn't last, with a low moving slowly down the east of the North Island likely to hit the region today, bringing more intense rain from around midday until midnight.
"With the soggy ground and rising rivers, people need to be careful."
The fresh band of rain should start to ease tomorrow, he said.
South Wairarapa was saturated with large areas of farmland under water in the wake of the heavy, unrelenting rain overnight Tuesday and much of yesterday.
River levels were high and at 3pm a spokesman for the Wellington Regional Council said the Huangarua River was running at a level of 4.4m and rising with the Ponatahi Bridge closed.
Lindsay Annear said the Ruamahanga River was 5.03m at Waihenga and also rising and was expected to peak late last night or early this morning.
Many roads throughout the region were either closed or marginal yesterday and in Carterton there was considerable surface flooding especially at the corner of Chester Road and State Highway 2 and on Dalefield and Lincoln roads.
On Moreton Road, Carterton the road was closed by Parkvale Hall with many paddocks on the Ponatahi Road flooded ? in some areas the floodwaters had earlier covered the road but later fallen away leaving scattered debris.
In Greytown there was plenty of surface flooding surface flooding but the Waiohine River had not encroached on to farmland.
On the Greytown-Martinborough Road, Bush House owner Tom Rodgers said the back garden, which also had a swimming pool and fish pond, was now a lake with everything under water and all the gold fish gone.
Mr Rodgers said he and a couple of helpers, including his son Paul, had dug four trenches to let the water drain away but despite that it was lapping at the same height as the french doors of the house.
From about 6am yesterday to about 4pm the fire service was kept busy answering flood-related calls with 10 for Masterton firefighters, 13 for Greytown and three calls each for the Carterton and Martinborough brigades.
Flooding at Featherston brought an end to rail services, though they resumed in time for the first evening trains.