Contractors clear a fallen tree between Fordell and Kauangāroa.
Whanganui’s Rotokawau Virginia Lake, Kowhai Park and Bason Botanic Gardens have been closed due to high winds with the storm lashing the North Island causing multiple road closures, power outages and bringing down trees.
“Inspections will take place once the windfall danger is past,” Whanganui District Council said in a statement.
Meanwhile, SH3 between Putiki and Whangaehu is now open following a closure due to fallen trees.
A pre-emptive State of Emergency was declared for the Manawatū-Whanganui region on Sunday evening, due to the heavy rain impacting parts of Ruapehu, Rangitīkei and Manawatū.
A heavy rain warning is in place for the region until 3pm on Monday.
Whanganui Civil Defence emergency manager Tim Crowe said he had been busy overnight on Sunday.
“We are expecting it to ramp up now that daylight is here, and people can see different damages around the place.“
“Most of the reports we’re getting are about fallen trees.
“Tree contractors have been busy all night with different bits and pieces.
Crowe said at this stage, he was not concerned about the Whanganui River level, “it’s pretty much normal”.
“Rivers out to our east have got a bit of water going into them, but we’re not expecting to have issues there at this stage.
“But there are still likely to be places with a bit of ponding and flooding in low-lying areas. We are going out to have a look at those shortly.
”He said members of the public should report fallen trees to Civil Defence or Whanganui District Council.
A Whanganui emergency operation centre was staffed throughout Sunday night.
Controller Catherine Dutton, Whanganui District Council’s chief experiences officer, said monitoring and response would continue on Monday.
Red Cross and emergency management staff were in contact with residents on Sunday evening in areas such as Kauangāroa and Mangamāhu, to ensure they were prepared for possible evacuation, she said.
“While the Whanganui River was not expected to flood, predictions for the eastern areas of our district were more concerning.
”Fortunately, we are now seeing the rain easing and river levels dropping.
“Currently, we have multiple trees down across the district and contractors have been prioritising removal of these throughout the night.
“We’re providing updates on social media, on our website, via our Antenno app and through releases to local media.”
MetService meteorologist John Law said continued rain and stormy weather is expected in Whanganui through the rest of the morning before conditions begin to improve later today.
Whanganui city had around 54mm of rainfall recorded at Whanganui airport.
Inland regions of Whanganui district had up to 90mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours with the heaviest rainfall recorded in Kauangaroa.
The strongest wind was recorded at Whanganui Airport on Monday morning at 111km/h.
SH1 between Hunterville and Taihape remains closed.
Powerco said 7840 properties in the Whanganui and Rangitīkei areas were without power as of 8.30am on Monday and the expected weather throughout Monday may cause more outages and hamper reconnection works.
Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said rainfall in the district had not been as heavy as predicted.
“River levels look as though we will get by, but there are some we absolutely keeping an eye on,” he said.
“The principal damage is loss of power throughout the district, with a huge number of trees, including one at our place, across power lines.
“There is going to be a huge clean-up.”
Rangitīkei District Council crews are assessing the impact of the storm overnight, particularly damage to the roading network, and from fallen trees and debris.
It said most schools across the district were closed today and advised people to avoid unnecessary travel.