A wet start to the school holidays is putting a damper on travel around the Bay of Plenty with a number of partial or full road closures due to slips or fallen trees.
A section of State Highway 2 at Waiotahe Beach reopened Tuesday afternoon after a large slip was cleared.
Earlier, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said geotechnical engineers were assessing the risk to road users and contractors and clear-up would begin as soon as it was safe.
Fallen trees that blocked lanes at SH2 Awakeri, SH2 Waimana Gorge, SH2 Waioeka Gorge and SH30 Rotoma had all been cleared.
Multiple slips were reported on SH35 with the road closed between Hawaii and Omaio while a slip was partially blocking SH5 at Tumunui, south of Rotorua.
Waka Kotahi also warned of potholes and general surface water throughout the region.
“Allow extra time and drive with care. Our crews are out working as hard as they can to get roads cleared but the situation can change at any time so expect the unexpected,” the agency said.
A woman driving home from Ōhope this morning was also stopped by a “massive” slip” at the bottom of Ōhope Hill.
The slip had blocked one lane with a tree going across both lanes, she said.
She notified the police about the slip.
Whakatāne recorded its second wettest September day on record for the second time in a week with 95.4mm falling in the 24 hours up to 9am today.
The wettest September day on record for Whakatāne was 127.6mm on September 8, 1987.
The average monthly rainfall for September is 98.3mm.
Ōpōtiki recorded 114.6mm during the same period while Rotorua recorded 53.5mm and Tauranga 17.8mm.
MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said thunderstorms were possible away from the coast in the region today with heavy rain of between 10 to 25mm/h.
“Rain looks to ease later today, but showery conditions continue through tomorrow also, but a chance of blue skies at times between the showers.”
Opotiki District Council said while the situation had improved overnight, the town’s wastewater system was still under pressure with surface water flooding and more rain possibly coming.
“Where possible, please try to limit water discharge to the wastewater system. For those still unable to flush their toilets there are portaloos available at Rawinia Rangi Reserve.”
Bay of Plenty Regional Council duty flood manager Mark Townsend said six rivers in the region were expected to reach the first warning level on Monday.
On Sunday, the Tauranga, Whakatāne, Waioeka and Otara rivers all reached the first warning level, but all receded that same night.
Based on current modelling, Townsend said they anticipated that these rivers would slowly rise over the next two days, and all were expected to pass through the first warning level.
The Whakatāne River was expected to reach the second warning level.
He said the regional council has instructed Manawa Energy to start spilling the Matahina dam as part of its “standard procedure” to take the pressure off the Rangitāiki River.