Heavy rain warnings for northern and western parts of New Zealand

Streams and rivers are rising in Taranaki and flooding has been reported in the north of the region, as severe weather warnings remain in place for many parts of the country.

Taranaki Civil Defence said council staff were clearing drains and continuing to assess the situation in central and southern parts of the region.

There was one report of property damage, and surface flooding in North Taranaki, it said.

Heavy rain warnings and watches are in place for many western and northern areas, including Northland, western parts of Auckland and Waikato, Waitomo, Taranaki, Taumarunui, Taihape and northern Whanganui, Horowhenua to Wellington, parts of Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman, Westland and Fiordland.

Northern Taranaki is among the areas to have had the heaviest rainfall overnight, alongside Northland, Horowhenua to Wellington, and Westland.

MetService said the orange heavy rain warning in Taranaki could be upgraded in the coming days.

Meanwhile, heavy rain was possible in the Nelson-Marlborough region from around midnight on Thursday.

LEFT: Current soil moisture deficit. Blue= very wet soil

RIGHT: Model forecast rainfall next 24 hours - Red= lots of rain. Our focus shifts to the already sodden upper South Island - Buller, Nelson, Marlborough.

Details at https://t.co/qHyE5zzql5 pic.twitter.com/OeeXDQuJIy

— MetService (@MetService) May 4, 2023

Specialist teams on standby in Northland

In Northland, flooding closed three roads in the Far North - the Kaitaia-Awaroa Road, Taumata Road and Whangape Road.

Omaunu Road was closed due to flooding overnight but had since reopened.

Fire and Emergency said specialist teams were on standby as it prepared for any weather-related callouts.

It said it had received a single weather-related call out overnight, when power lines sparked in Kerikeri.

MetService said the rain in Northland could ramp up later today and into Friday, and the region remains under an orange heavy rain warning.

Deputy National Commander Brendan Nally said two Urban Search and Rescue teams were on standby in Kaikohe.

He said there was still uncertainty around exactly where the rain would hit the hardest, but deployments to other locations would be considered as the situation evolved.

'The ground is absolutely saturated'

Whakatāne has been hit with unrelenting heavy rain, slips and surface flooding since Monday.

The Whakatāne River reached its highest level since 2019 yesterday and several communities got isolated.

MetService has lifted the heavy rain warning for the Bay of Plenty east of Te Kaha and Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay but the wet weather of recent days has caused some small communities in the area to become cut off.

A section of State Highway Two in Bay of Plenty will remain closed overnight, due to slips, Waka Kotahi said this evening.

Contractors had been working hard to clear the Waimana Gorge between Awakeri and Kutarere.

But more mud and debris fell onto the road today, which had slowed the progress in clearing the other three slips.

Wainui Road is open for detours.

Te Uruwera councillor Andrew Iles told Morning Report he was hopeful the region had seen the worst of the current bout of wet weather.

"It's moving off now to the west coast of both islands so it's a matter now of getting our roading network up and running again today."

He said the community of Waimana had been cut off for most of yesterday but a route in and out of the community via the Wainui Road to the town's east was now open.

"State Highway 2 - the other side of the river - there's a deadly hush over there, still no traffic movement, so I'm assuming that they're still working on clearing not only the slips, but there was a lot of slash and what-have-you on the state highway network over there."

Rūatoki was also isolated due to flooding yesterday and a boil-water notice was still in place for resident there, Iles said.

"The ground is absolutely saturated so slips are always a concern. Of course Whakatāne itself, with the escarpments is always susceptible to something like that happening."

He said the priority now was to get the roading network up and running again, and he urged local residents to follow Whakatāne District Council's Facebook page or to listen to the radio for the latest updates.

Heavy rain for Taranaki, Wellington, Marlborough regions

Rain has closed some lanes on State Highway 2 between Wellington city and the Hutt Valley.

Wellington City Council said parts of northbound lanes on Hutt Road between Kaiwharawhara and Ngauranga are down to one lane due to flooding.

Hutt City Council said if the rain continued at the same intensity it might close the carpark next to the Hutt River this afternoon.

Meanwhile, further north the Kāpiti Coast District Council said river levels have risen due to rain in the hills but so far it was not aware of any weather issues.

Cape Reinga recorded 120mm while rain gauges at the top of Mt Taranaki had 150mm by early Thursday morning, forecaster Allister Gorman said.

There had also been heavy rain in Porirua, Stratford and Marlborough and persistent rain was likely to continue in Taranaki, Marlborough and Kāpiti during the morning.

MetService said up to 300mm of rain was expected around Mt Taranaki and Civil Defence warned people in areas prone to flooding to be ready to leave their homes if necessary.

Drivers should also be on alert for slips and flooding on the roads, it said.