Wild weather thrashed the Bay of Plenty region on Tuesday with heavy rain and strong wind causing slips, power outages and downing trees.
Three trampers were airlifted out of the Kaimai Range due to fast-moving rivers at the Tuahu Track in the Manawaru area about 9.20am.
A severe weather warning for the region was pushed out to 4pm, with MetService recording 53mm of rain in Rotorua alone today.
A "substantial" slip on State Highway 5 between Ngongotaha Rd and Paradise Valley Rd blocked the road for a time.
Police said a truck had crashed into the slip. There were no reports of injuries.
A Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency spokesman said the road was reopened at about 1.20pm.
There were also two slips on the State Highway 30 corridor between Rotorua and Te Teko, one at Tikitere and one at Matahi.
At Tikitere, the area was down to one lane under a stop/go, and it was estimated it'll be another two to three hours before its fully reopened, a Waka Kotahi spokesman said at 3.30pm. At Matahi, the road was down to one lane under Stop/Go. It was estimated it would be an hour before the road is fully open.
Rotorua Lakes Council said contractors were out at various sites across the city clearing stormwater grates and monitoring known flooding areas. Fulton Hogan has attended several weather-related incidents so far today including slips and fallen trees.
According the latest update at 4.50pm, Fulton Hogan crews attended a number of treefall and slip events.
• Kaharoa Rd – Slip. Crew attended and signed up for further clean-up tomorrow.
• Brett Rd – Slip. Crew attended and cleaned up.
• James St – Treefall. Crew attended and cleaned up.
• Opal Dr- Blocked Cesspit, Crew attended and cleared. Needs further cleaning.
• Hamurana Rd – Slip, Crew attended and cleaned up.
• Tutukau Rd – Treefall, Crew attended and cleaned up.
• Tutukau Slip – Slip, Crew attended and cleaned up.
• Paradise Valley Rd – Slip, Crew attended and cleared to the road edge. Needs further cleaning.
Tauranga City Council's maintenance crews reported no issues regarding stormwater today, just the occasional surface ponding, a spokesperson said.
🛰️ 48 hours of satellite imagery in 4.8 seconds
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) July 12, 2022
See the moisture connection to the tropics? These events are more likely during La Niña events, which our climate is still being influenced by. pic.twitter.com/5ik5tQmIBJ
Oturoa Rd resident Robyn Nelson said power lines were down over her driveway as she tried leaving for work this morning. According to the Powerco website, there were 195 properties without power this morning in the greater Tauranga region including 170 properties in the Lower Kaimai.
As of 6.20pm, 77 households were still without power in Lower Kaimai, with restoration estimated for 7pm.
Earlier
Metservice meteorologist Lewis Serris said the wind and rain were likely to "intensify" today which posed the risk of fallen trees, flooding and slips.
Tauranga and Whakatāne have had 30mm of rain since yesterday afternoon and Rotorua 25mm of rain in that same time, with more to come, Serris said.
He said there had been a little break in the rain this morning and it was expected to intensify in the next couple of hours before easing this afternoon. The wind started picking up at 4am and has reached 50km/h gusts in the main centres and the speed was likely to increase.
There's heavy rain on the cards as well, especially for northern and eastern facing areas. pic.twitter.com/RmzjSXcKYg
— MetService (@MetService) July 11, 2022
This month, there had been two days with more than 35mm of rain in a 24-hour period in Tauranga. On those same days in Rotorua, the city had seen 20mm and 40mm.
As a result, Serris said, puddles and surface flooding were likely to be seen faster as the ground wouldn't be able to soak as much of the water up.
People are being warned to expect up to 110mm of rain with rates of 15mm per hour at times between 10pm Monday and 4pm Tuesday. Similar warnings are in place for Taupō.
Air New Zealand Flight NZ5784 flying into Rotorua from Christchurch at 11.30am has been cancelled, and Flight NZ5785 flying to Christchurch from Rotorua at 12pm has been cancelled.
Flight NZ8231 flying from Rotorua to Wellington, which was scheduled to leave at 7am, was delayed to 11.35pm.
Air New Zealand Flight NZ5806 flying into Tauranga from Christchurch at 11.20am was cancelled. Flying from the city, Flight NZ8146 to Auckland at 11.10am and Flight NZ5803 to Christchurch was also cancelled.
Police were called to a tree coming down at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Omokoroa Rd at 10.45pm. The tree blocked most of the northbound lane of the road and was cleared at around 1.40am.
A car crashed into a tree that had come down on the southbound lane of State Highway 29 between Gargan Rd and Redwood Lane about 6.30am.
A member of the public arrived with a chainsaw to assist with removing the tree, a police spokeswoman said. The driver is reported to be uninjured.
Part of State Highway 25 is closed in the Coromandel between Wharekaho and Kuaotunu due to a large slip.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called to six separate flooding incidents and two trees blocking the road in the Whangamatā overnight.
PLAN AHEAD: Extra caution is advised this morning, following some very wet weather overnight. Please slow down, increase your following distance and be mindful of possible slips, surface flooding and/or fallen trees on roads in the area. ^MF pic.twitter.com/v8PzichinY
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) July 11, 2022
The Thames-Coromandel District Council is appealing for people to staff off the region's roads until staff have completed a rapid assessment of the entire district and can update everyone on the situation.
"There is still a lot of rain forecast this morning. All the rivers and catchments are full to overflowing and many roads are impacted by slips and debris," said the council in a Facebook post this morning.
Lisa Glass, senior communications advisor for Emergency Management Bay of Plenty, said the rain was likely to be similar to what the region experienced on Friday.
"If you were unlucky enough to be driving around in that you would have known it was pretty bad."
She said Whakatāne river levels were being monitored and affected people - largely landowners and farmers - would be aware of any developments.
"They get an automatic phone call when anything changes from the norm with the rivers.
"For townies, roading crews, etc are prepped and on standby."
👀 Here's our latest high resolution modelling for the strong low/atmospheric river...
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) July 11, 2022
‼️ Looks like Auckland is in for quite a wet & windy AM commute on Tuesday!
A month's worth of rain may fall in parts of the North Island + northern & eastern South Island ~ flooding risk! 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/hk4etTwEDj
Due to recent rain, there was a risk of trees falling in high wind and land slips, though these would hopefully "be more at the inconvenience level than the drama level".
"In any case, we are asking people to take special care on the roads. School holidays mean we might have a few visitors who don't know local roads and conditions."
With high winds forecast, Waka Kotahi system manager Roger Brady said they wanted high-sided vehicles and motorcyclists to take extra care - especially in exposed areas.
"Please, drive to the conditions and follow all advisory warnings. Also, consider delaying your trip if it's not necessary. If you don't have to be on the roads, don't be. Stay home and stay safe."
For those who do have to travel, Brady said to check the road conditions on Waka Kotahi's website before heading out.
Kia Ora
— BOP Civil Defence (@BOPCivilDefence) July 9, 2022
Severe Weather Warnings for Bay Of Plenty and Rotorua have been issued. An orange heavy rain warning is valid: 8:00pm Monday to 3:00pm Tuesday. A strong wind watch is also valid: 4:00am Tuesday to 2:00pm Tuesday
Take care and plan ahead 😊
Rotorua Lakes Council said its infrastructure team and contractors were making the usual preparations and standby crews would be on heightened alert.
Stormwater maintenance contractor Infracore has completed pre-rain event checks on critical large culvert inlets to ensure all are clear of any potential blockages, the council said in a statement today.
Sandbag deliveries have been made to a number of properties that have requested them.
Council's wastewater management contractor Trility is preparing for potentially high stormwater flows into the wastewater network and is ensuring storage ponds at the wastewater treatment plant are as empty as possible and that all plant and equipment are fully operational.
Roading contractor Fulton Hogan has two crews inspecting and clearing the likes of cesspit grates in flood-prone zones. Two other crews have been sent to clear slips that occurred during the weekend on Pongakawa Valley Rd, Okareka Loop Rd, Puaiti Rd and Tutukau Road.
Low pressure will direct moisture into NZ early next week, resulting in heavy rain for many areas.
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) July 10, 2022
The heaviest rain will occur on Tuesday. The first image shows the chance of rainfall >50 mm, and the second image >100 mm. The highest rain amounts are likely in BoP and upper SI. pic.twitter.com/xGT8v7jp7q
All Rotorua Lakes Council sports fields are closed today and tomorrow.
Toi Te Ora Public Health also advises people to avoid swimming in rivers, streams, beaches and harbour areas for at least 48 hours after heavy rain as there is likely to be contamination from rural and urban run-off in waterways.
Tauranga City Council director of city waters, Wally Potts, said a heavy rain checklist was made prior to any predicted event and was performed again at the end of the rain event.
"This is predominantly for inlets and outlets with a history of blocking with debris that is mobilised in a storm."
The wintry blast is being attributed to an "atmospheric river" snaking across the country. These long, thin filaments of atmospheric moisture are capable of carrying double the average flow of the Amazon River – or 200 times that of our largest river, the Clutha/Mata Au.
Around 40 atmospheric rivers make landfall here every year, with four or five classified as strong and usually hitting around summer.
The coming system could bring 100mm to 120mm of rainfall between 8pm Monday and 3pm Tuesday, with peak rates of 15mm to 25mm an hour.
A motorbike overtook a car and hit a pedestrian on Edmund Rd.