Books on Parade bookshop flooded in Hawke’s Bay Wairoa. Photo: Supplied / Becca Morrell
Shops are flooding in Wairoa as the heavy overnight rain continues to "hose down" in the area.
MetService has issued a new severe weather watch for Hawke's Bay, Gisborne and eastern Bay of Plenty.
Up to 80mm fell in the Wairoa district overnight with the township inundated around 3am.
The area remains under a heavy rain watch until 6pm on Wednesday, with the potential to upgrade to warning level tonight with the downpour expected to increase.
Mayor Craig Little said the drains on the main street were struggling under the amount of rain.
"It's absolutely hosing down, the drains can't keep up."
He said the council had just learned about half a dozen shops on Marine Parade have water in the door, and was assessing how to respond.
Little said while the amount of water appeared to be minimal - it didn't really matter.
"Once it gets through all your carpets and all your furniture you've got to lift everything up and dry it out," he said.
He said crews were down there doing what they could to mitigate the impact, "because there's nothing saying the rain's going away".
Little said as a farmer, the rainfall was needed, but anxiety during heavy rainfall was a real thing after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Rebecca from Books on Parade said it flooded in the early hours of the morning and they may have lost a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock.
Books on Parade bookshop flooded in Hawke’s Bay Wairoa. Photo: Supplied / Becca Morrell
"The flooding has come through from the back door right through the entire shop to the front door."
The doors were still open to customers while they run a rug doctor and clean the place up, she said.
Books on Parade bookshop flooded in Hawke’s Bay Wairoa. Photo: Supplied / Becca Morrell
Meanwhile, the Bay of Plenty is expected to be hit by severe southeasterly winds approaching galeforce in exposed places for the next 24 hours from 3pm today.
And down south the temperatures have plummeted to unseasonable lows, with Queenstown, Wanaka, and Milford South starting the morning in single digits.
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