Video shows the extent of flooding as Ngongotaha Stream breached in Rotorua on Tuesday. Video / Supplied
Stream levels have fallen in Rotorua after Tuesday’s flooding as work continues to assess an event a council manager calls “a reminder of how quickly things can happen”.
Rain started the night before about 10pm and Ngongotahā recorded the most in the Bay of Plenty, with 127mm falling in the 24 hours to 3pm, according to Metservice.
The Rotorua Airport station recorded 43.9mm of rain in the same period.
Western Rd residents in Ngongotahā were told by authorities to self-evacuate at 11am after rain caused the Ngongotahā Stream to breach in some places.
The stream peaked at 5.39m at 10.35am before subsiding.
Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting at the incident control point on Tuesday, Rotorua Fire Brigade senior station officer Barry Hogan said they were monitoring water levels at Western Rd and checking that people in houses were safe.
“The council has done some sandbagging at people’s properties and there has been some water get into mainly garages,” Hogan said.
Rotorua Fire Brigade senior station officer Barry Hogan. Photo / Laura Smith
Bay of Plenty Regional Council activated its flood room Tuesday morning, deactivating it at 2.30pm. Fire and Emergency NZ and Civil Defence teams went door to door helping residents.
Regional council duty flood manager Ingrid Pak said the stream had “well receded” to 1.029m by Wednesday 10.30am and was close to pre-event levels.
The Utuhina Stream had similarly dropped and was at 0.703m by 10am.
Pak said survey teams were out on Wednesday “to capture the flood levels”.
“We will use this information in the future to calibrate our modelling.”
Pak said its rivers and drainage operations team were checking its flood protection assets, such as stopbanks.
Flooding on Western Rd on Tuesday, May 22, 2024. Photo / Aleyna Martinez
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure and environment general manager Stavros Michael said the council had no direct reports of water getting into homes or homes being damaged but there were reports of some commercial buildings on Riri St being flooded.
“People should contact their insurance companies about any damage to their homes or business premises.”
Crews were still attending to and inspecting some roads on Wednesday afternoon.
The council received 42 weather-related calls on Tuesday, the majority reporting surface flooding on roads.
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure and environment group manager Stavros Michael. Photo / Laura Smith
“Things happened quickly yesterday.
“We were dealing with the usual network checks and weather-related callouts that happen during a rain event and tending to matters such as surface flooding and treefalls when we were alerted to rising water levels in the Ngongotahā Stream.”
Staff went to assess the situation and, while they were there, water breached the stream near the Brake Rd intersection.
“Knowing the vulnerability of the stream to breaching, we decided to partially activate our Emergency Operations Centre and encourage Western Rd residents to self-evacuate as a precaution,” Michael said.
Twelve staff who work in a welfare function during a state of emergency visited Western Rd properties to provide advice.
“Longer term residents were comfortable about knowing when they should evacuate their homes and newer residents were thankful for the information and advice from the welfare officers.”
Michael said most people decided to stay at home on Tuesday. No one was forced or required to evacuate as the situation was not severe enough to declare a state of emergency.
Flooding on Western Rd, on Tuesday, May 22, 2024. Photo / Aleyna Martinez
“Thankfully things settled quite quickly.”
The weather watch in place for Rotorua was not upgraded to a warning at any stage, he said.
“While yesterday was not a state of emergency, it was certainly a reminder of how quickly things can happen during weather events and that residents need to be on alert at these times and be ready to take action, such as self-evacuation if needed.
“This is especially the case for people living near waterways.
“If you become concerned about your situation, self-evacuating as a precaution is a good decision to make and people can call council for assistance if needed.”
Michael said other council staff worked with the regional council and contractors who responded to weather-related incidents. It also arranged sandbag deliveries to help residents in Western Rd.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist for five years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
