Flooding in Gisborne. Photo / Julie Hollamby
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Civil Defence is warning Gisborne area residents to be ready to leave their homes, as river levels across the region rise rapidly.
Residents from Mangatuna, 65km northeast of Gisborne, are currently being evacuated while those in Te Karaka are being warned of their probable isolation by tonight, said Civil Defence.
Gisborne's Civil Defence emergency operation was activated about 9.30am today as rivers around the Poverty Bay and Uawa catchments rose past warning levels, in the face of continuing south-easterly rain.
Civil Defence and Emergency Management Ministry spokesperson, Vince Cholewa, said the situation is being "handled at a local level at the moment" and that the region's Civil Defence has not requested national assistance.
People are being warned to avoid travelling while rural school children have been sent home.
Tolaga Bay, Whangara, Ngatapa, Waerenga-o-Kuri and Mangatuna schools were closed, and school buses were sent out to pick up rural children from city schools and get them home before more roads closed.
The Gisborne District Council says rivers are predicted to rise to 80 per cent capacity by midday tomorrow.
WeatherWatch analyst Philip Duncan said there is a "very high risk of slips and flooding over the next 24 to 36 hours".
Rainfall totals have reached the 180mm mark in both the Waipaoa and Uawa catchments, with a further heavy rain warning for another 150mm-200mm in the hills around Gisborne and Tolaga Bay from 8am today until 2pm tomorrow.
Civil Defence personnel said they were not expecting flooding problems on Gisborne properties alongside the Waimata and Taruheru rivers, although there was widespread surface water throughout the city and district.
Heavy rain warnings were earlier lifted for the Coromandel Peninsula as severe weather that brought slips and flooding yesterday moved away.
Yesterday's storm brought more than 1000 bolts of forked lightning to Auckland and Northland, while heavy rain caused slips and flooding, resulting in road closures in the central North Island and Manawatu.
Rain also caused slips in the Manawatu Gorge and contractors were called in to keep the road open.
The MetService said today the vigorous low that had caused the storm was now sitting north of Bay of Plenty and was predicted to move slowly east or southeast.
About 180mm of rain was also expected in the ranges north of Mohaka, in the Hawke's Bay, with snow falling down to about 900m.
Snow warnings were also issued for the Desert Road in the central North Island and Porters Pass in central Canterbury.
- NZPA
