Cordon at the intersection of State Highway 5 and Dansey Rd after a slip closed a section of the highway. Photo / Andrew Warner
It comes as the region continues the clean up from days of rain.
SH36 is now open under stop/go traffic management after flooding between Jackson Rd and Central Rd and Hamurana Rd is now fully reopened with some minor slips still to be cleared.
Traffic management is in place at two slips on State Highway 30 between Tikitere and Rotoma.
Maniatutu Rd, between Rotoehu Rd and Pugh Rd, remained closed overnight due to a large slip and tree blocking both lanes.
Lichenstein Rd is open to resident access only to the unsealed section due to significant scouring.
SH2 is also fully open between Awakeri and Taneatua as is SH2 between the Tauranga Eastern Link and Pikowai Beach at the Kaikokopu Stream Bridge.
Rotorua Lakes Council said contractors had completed a full check of the local roading network on Wednesday and would be out today cleaning various slips, debris and potholes.
Fire and Emergency NZ was called to 80 weather-related incidents in the Bay of Plenty between 12am Tuesday and 9am Thursday.
Of these 80 incidents, 23 were in Rotorua, 25 in Tauranga, 26 in the Western Bay of Plenty, five in Whakatāne and one in Ōpōtiki.
A spokeswoman said 13 were reported as rescues and eight were for people stuck in their cars or on their properties by flooding.
The majority of the rest were for flooding in buildings, homes, and roads, and for slips and fallen trees.
Rainfall amounts and forecast
MetService expert meteorologist, Peter Little, said 115.2mm of rain had fallen in Rotorua in the 48 hours up to 9am today.
Tauranga had 74.9mm in the same period, Whakatāne 64.6 mm and Taupō 81.8 mm.
Showers were forecast today, with thunderstorms and hail possible west of Whakatāne, Little said.
The showers are expected to clear late this afternoon or evening as westerly winds turn southerly. South to southwest winds stick around for the weekend, bringing fine weather.
Wastewater system struggles
Rotorua’s wastewater system was “unable to cope at several points” during Tuesday’s heavy rain, resulting in overflow into Lake Rotorua.
“Due to the heavy rain and the very high water levels of the lakes and groundwater table, stormwater caused excessively high inflows to the Rotorua wastewater system which was unable to cope at several points last night,” Rotorua Lakes Council said.
“Issues included wastewater overflowing into a stormwater drain leading to Sulphur Bay for several hours in the early evening and fully treated effluent overflowed from the holding ponds at the Rotorua WWTP [wastewater treatment plant] to the Puarenga Stream for a period in the late evening.”
Slip at Lake Rotoiti between Moose Lodge and Ruato Bay 10 March 2023 The Daily Post Photo / Andrew Warner
“Council and its contractors worked throughout the night to minimise the impact of this and reported to BOPRC, mana whenua and other stakeholders about what was happening.”
Other network overflows occurred at Depot St, Lake Rd and Victoria St, and a wastewater pump station at Tikitere became blocked with rags, combined with high flows, caused an overflow to land.
The blockage has since been fixed.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council duty flood manager Peter Blackwood said the Rangitāiki River wass still receiving spill flows from Matahina Dam to try to lower the levels in the upper catchment and relieve pressure off the downstream Rangitāiki River.
He said all other major rivers were receding and were approximately halfway back to normal levels.
High water level at Lake Rotoma. Photo / Andrew Warner
