Sandbagging the Waihi Beach Surf Club. Photo: Supplied
Waihi Beach Surf Lifesaving says the community has rallied to help put up sandbags at the surf club ahead of forecast heavy rain.
Heavy rain and strong winds are due to hit to the upper North Island from Wednesday, with damp skies expected for much of the country over the rest of the week.
An Orange heavy rain warning was in effect for the Bay of Plenty west of Kawerau through till midnight on Friday, with MetService forecasting 120 to 180 mm of rain inland, and lesser rainfall nearer to the coast.
Director of the membership and communications Natalie Lloyd said the surf club had been hit badly by flooding in the past.
"We were inundated, flooded, fairly seriously a couple of times over the last few years, so we very definitely do preventative actions to make sure that we can do everything we can to stop the club from being flooded," she said.
She said the response from the community had been heart-warming.
"We've got an amazing community down in Waihi Beach," Lloyd said.
"We love the fact that if we put a call out, which we don't do that often but if we do, the community rallies so quickly and so generously with their time and effort."
Lloyd said they had residents at the surf club within 15 minutes of putting out the call.
"The job got done very, very quickly, it's all complete," Lloyd said.
She said those going to the beach over the weekend should exercise tremendous caution.
"Probably stay out of the water, the forecast is for some huge swells, huge surf on the East Coast, particularly down the Coromandel and through Waihi Beach," she said.
"We will have surf lifeguard patrols on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but the lifeguards will probably be warning people about the conditions we'd imagine."
