Road closures on the state highway network around the Waikato will remain in place until at least Thursday, with heavy flooding preventing emergency crews from clearing roads.
Homes are under threat from rising rivers with residents starting to evacuate as rain continues to drench western and central North Island districts.
An emergency centre has been partially set up in Ruapehu district and two families have evacuated because of rising streams and rivers.
Footage has emerged of trucks winding through the treacherous Awakino Gorge navigating large slips and flooding, as Auckland now sits under a heavy rain watch.
Roads are flooded and heavy rain has triggered slips across Waikato highways, with motorists trapped and communities cut off.
Closures on state highways in place until Thursday
An update from the Waitomo District Council, just before 2pm, said SH3 Awakino between Mōkau and Piopio remained closed because of flooding and slips.
SH4 between SH3 and SH43 also remains closed.
“Due to rising water levels, crews are unable to clear the roads until the flooding subsides,” a statement said.
“Closures are expected to remain in place until Thursday morning, October 16. Please avoid travel in these areas until further notice.”
An Awakino local told the Herald the river was extremely high, reaching high tide levels while at low tide.
The Ruapehu District Council says rain is falling at rates not anticipated and the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been activated, with at least one family evacuating because of rising rivers.
Ōhura homes are under threat from the rising Mangaroa Stream.
Police say they are aware of some vehicles “unable to move” after “significant weather” made State Highway 3 in the Awakino Gorge impassable at places.
The road will be closed until late this afternoon.
Many settlements, including Awakino, Māhoenui, Matiere and Ōhura, are cut off.
State Highways 30, 31, 43 and 4 are also closed after huge slips, along with many smaller roads, with some at risk of washing away entirely.
Shortly before 3pm, police said they were at the scene of a vehicle stuck in flood waters just north of Tokoroa on Old Taupō Rd between Wiltsdown and Matanuku Rds.
“The vehicle’s occupants are safely out of the vehicle,” a statement said.
Police also advised motorists to avoid the area due to high flood waters.
Homes under threat, family evacuates in Ruapehu
Ruapehu Civil Defence controller Clive Manley said homes were reportedly threatened near the Mangaroa Stream in Ōhura and at least one family has evacuated.
The Ōhura River is close to breaching its banks, with a family in Maitere, a town that sits near the river, evacuating.
Manley said the council’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been partially activated, with rain falling at levels not anticipated.
Ōhura and Mangapapa Rds are both closed, with road closure signs in place at SH4 and the base of the Ōkahukura Saddle.
A “major” slip is preventing travel north of Taumarunui, Manley said, and the Ōhura, Maitere and Tokorima townships in northern Ruapehu are isolated by slips and flooding on local access roads.
Manley said the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell has also been in contact and offered any necessary support.
“People are asked to continue to avoid any unnecessary travel as the weather system passes through.”
Taumarunui–Ōhura Community Board member Sophie Stockbridge said around 4.30pm the township was “dipping its toes” in water.
“We all know in Ōhura to stay in place and sort of shelter.
“We had a few tourists [who] have taken shelter at the cossie club, but the [State Highway] 43 is open now, which is good,” she said.
“Ōhura can get to Taumarunui, but Taumarunui can’t get to Stratford.
“It looks like it’s peaked for Ōhura now, so we’re hopefully on the mend. As long as it doesn’t rain again in the next 12 hours, [the flooding] will start going down.”
Hohotaka Rd is beginning to slip away and could completely wash out.
Flooding is reported on Taupō Rd, and there are slips on Kawautahi Rd, Ōkahukura Saddle and Marsack Rd.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said there are “no suitable detours” for many of the closures, including vital connecting routes SH31 and SH3, and motorists should delay their journey or expect long delays.
Mid-morning, a convoy of trucks trapped between slips on SH3 was able to file slowly through a significant landslide across the road.
Many cordons blocking motorists have been continuously extended throughout the morning as more slips come down and heavy rain falls.
Photos from Waikawau in North Taranaki, just north of the Awakino Gorge, show paddocks and rural roads flooded with brown water.
Police urged motorists across the Waikato District to take care in the “significant weather conditions” undertake essential travel only.
“Reducing speed, using headlights and windscreen wipers, and watching your visibility will also ensure a safe trip.”
MetService has upgraded its warnings for Waitomo, Waikato south of Raglan and Cambridge. The orange warning came into force at 7am and is expected to last until midday.
NZTA said SH3 is now closed and police are urging motorists not to travel through the gorge. No detour is available.
Mōkau School principal Maryann Symonds said she had contacted students affected by slips and flooding.
She said some would not be at school today, but the school was open to those who could.
A Mōkau cafe worker said there were “barely any cars” and thunderstorms were continuing to lash the area.
“It’s a really terrible day, the weather is awful.”
She said it was not uncommon for the gorge to close in severe weather, but the lack of confirmation on when it might reopen was “concerning”.
NZTA spokesman Blair Cunningham said crews were clearing the road “as safely and efficiently as possible”.
A heavy rain warning for the eastern ranges of Bay of Plenty began at 1am today and expires at 6pm.
Between 90 and 120mm of rain is forecast with peak rates of 20mm/h.
Wet weather to persist across North Island
Meanwhile, MetService forecaster Alannah Burrows told the Herald the wet weather would continue across the North Island today.
“There will be some fronts pushing up north eastwards and they’re going to continue to cross the North Island,” she said.
“For a lot of areas, we’re seeing rain with heavy outbreaks at times.”
Burrows said the rain would begin to clear from the southeast in the second half of today.
“Rain with heavy outbreaks is expected to ease for places like Auckland late afternoon and early evening to showers,” she said.
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