A state of emergency has been declared in Gisborne as heavy rain pounds the region.
Flooding has closed several roads and the sewer system is under pressure. Some residents of Sponge Bay have self-evacuated as flood waters rise, and others are being told to get ready to leave.
“We are not evacuating people at this stage, it’s all voluntary,” Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Checkpoint.
Looking at the Taruheru river out the window, she said: “It is rough, it is brown, it is really going hard and it’s still pouring.”
