North Island floods: Red weather alert issued for Rotorua, mayor urges residents to take precautions

Rotorua and Bay of Plenty remain in the firing line as a red alert for severe weather stays in place for the region.

In the Bay of Plenty west of about Kawerau, including the Rotorua Lakes District, Western Bay of Plenty District and Tauranga City, a further 70 to 100mm of rain was expected between 9am and 9pm today with peak rates of 10 to 20mm an hour.

In the Bay of Plenty about and east of Kawerau, also Gisborne north of Ruatoria, 90 to 120 mm of rain was expected between 1pm today and 10am tomorrow with peak rates of 10 to 20 mm/h, especially about the ranges.

In the 12 hours to 2pm, 27.3mm of rain had fallen in Rotorua, 14.5mm in Tauranga, 10mm in Whakatāne and 36.8mm in Waihī.

Rotorua Lakes Council said this morning things were fairly quiet in the Rotorua district overnight but residents should continue to stay vigilant about water levels and have a plan in place if necessary.

“Council staff and contractors are continuing with weather monitoring and preparation work ahead of the expected heavy rain. If you feel unsafe, need to report weather related issues or have queries please call Rotorua Lakes Council on 07 348 4199 (available 24/7).”

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell has urged people to take precautions, and one resident, recalling the effects of heavy flooding in 2018, said she wouldn’t be able to sleep until the danger had passed.

MetService upgraded the warning from orange to red yesterday afternoon.

Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities.

Glenholme resident Glenys Ihaka's sleepout has been flooded twice since September. Photo / Andrew Warner

Glenholme resident Glenys Ihaka’s sleepout has been flooded twice since September.

She has lived at her Tilsley St property for the past 20 years, and she can remember previous floodwaters covering her back garden and, once in 2018, overflowing onto her veranda.

Ihaka now takes many precautions when heavy rain is forecast. Yesterday, she had sandbagged the area around her sleepout and the entrance to her garage. She also had two electric water pumps plugged in and ready to go.

“Over the weekend, I didn’t sleep,” Ihaka told the Rotorua Daily Post.

“I had to be manning the pumps the entire time.”

On Saturday night, Rotorua received 10 per cent of its annual rainfall.

But in December, Ihaka said sandbags didn’t do much to stop water from coming into her property.

“The water just flows through.”

In June, one month after moving into her new home, mum Rebecca Brake could only watch as a flood swept through her house.

That flood cost Brake’s family an estimated $500,000 in damages. Then, just a week after the family moved back in and a couple of days before Christmas, the family was once again forced to move due to flooding.

“We’ve given up. We’re at a loss,” Brake said. “Living out of boxes and bags for a year is no great place to be for three kids.”

Brake and her family recently moved to a rental property near Christchurch. On Friday, they were informed that their house in Rotorua had flooded for a third time.

“I’m just pleased we weren’t there for the third flood. However, the situation is, we’re paying for two properties,” Brake said.

“We’ve been at some pretty low points, to be honest. We’ve just tried to keep it together for our kids.”

But Brake said her children were now receiving treatment for trauma.

“My middle child is terrified of storms and rain now. There’s been a real emotional toll on my family.”

As far as Brake could see, she said the flooding was just going to keep happening and there was “nothing to be done”.

“We’re happy to be away from it, and now I’m just trying to rebuild after a year of mess.”

Brooke Ellis and her family spent hours pumping floodwaters out of their Ngongotahā property over the weekend.

Ngongotahā resident Brooke Ellis said after her backyard was flooded over the weekend, she and her family hired two water pumps.

“We’ve been pumping water since Saturday, and we finished pumping [on] Sunday around 6pm.”

Ellis said it was the second time her property had experienced serious flooding, the first time being in 2018.

With more rain forecast over the coming days, Ellis said she and her family thought to start digging holes in the reserve behind their property to help redirect the water.

Ngongotahā resident Heather Brake said with heavy rain forecasts, flooding “is a worry”, but measures taken over the past few months seemed to be working well.

In her view: “It would take more rain than what we got on Friday and Saturday night to make the river overflow.”

Still, Brake recommended that residents not leave their belongings such as lawnmowers and kids’ bikes around lower areas on their properties. “We had to stop and think of our stock in the paddock ahead of time. We lifted our freezer in the garage just to be on the safe side.”

In a statement, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell urged locals to be on high alert in case of potential flooding risks. “As a precaution, it may be wise for those living in low-lying areas or near waterways to consider finding alternative accommodation tonight,” Tapsell said.

“Because the ground is now totally saturated from the rainfall we’ve already had, more heavy rain increases the risk of flooding, so we want to make sure people are vigilant and prepared to act if needed.”

Tapsell said anyone feeling apprehensive or in need of support, including accommodation, could call the council, which had staff on standby to activate emergency response systems.

Te Whatu Ora medical officer of health at Toi Te Ora Public Health, Dr Phil Shoemack, said in the case of flooding, contact with floodwater should be avoided “whenever possible”.

“All floodwater is, by definition, significantly contaminated with bugs.

“Anyone assisting with the clean-up effort should wear gloves and regularly wash their hands with soap and water.”