The East Coast of the North Island has received "pretty torrential" rainfall overnight, which has seen residents evacuated in Manutuke and Te Karaka.
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Dave Wilson told AM about a dozen families have been relocated from those areas.
MetService said Gisborne Airport recorded a "March worth of rain" in seven hours and are warning of further rain on Thursday but at lower intensities.
What you need to know:
- Tairāwhiti Civil Defence has declared a state of emergency as severe flooding impacts the Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay area.
- Two road workers were rescued after being trapped in a digger 12km north of Tolaga Bay on Wednesday.
- State Highway 35 from Gisborne to Ōpōtiki is closed because of flooding and slips.
- MetService is warning of heavy rain for Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, and the Bay of Plenty with the potential of up to 280mm of rain.
These live updates have finished.
3:50pm - State Highway 35 from Gisborne to Pōtaka will remain closed overnight, Waka Kotahi NZTA says.
"Other closures on SH2 and SH38 are still in place. Please continue to delay your journey and avoid this area," they add.
3:15pm - Alongside the heavy rain, large waves will batter the east of the North Island in the coming days, MetService says.
"Four meter swells are expected offshore from Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, with the odd larger wave in there too," they say.
2:45pm - Gladstone Rd Bridge in Gisborne is now open to one lane after it was closed earlier in the day for debris removal.
"Please continue to drive with care and be mindful that other closures on SH2 and SH35 remain in place," Waka Kotahi NZTA says.
2:25pm - A new photo of the Tokomaru Bay Bridge shows part of it has been completely wiped out.
2:10pm - MetService says it is keeping a close eye on a low pressure system lingering near the North Island's east coast, which is forecast to bring further periods of rain to Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and Gisborne over the coming days.
Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay for Thursday and Friday, where heavy rain may cause slips, rapidly rising rivers, and dangerous driving conditions.
The red warning for Gisborne has now been lifted following the extreme rainfall that impacted the region, and there is a heavy rain watch for the area south of Gisborne city for another period of rain from this evening until tomorrow evening.
"Gisborne Airport recorded a month's worth of rain in seven hours last night with 86.9mm, and several of the Gisborne District Council rain gauges across the region recorded more than 400mm of rain in three days," says MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan.
"The upcoming periods of rainfall in the Gisborne region are not expected to be as intense as they have been so far this week, but there may be further impacts due to already saturated soils.
"Uncertainty surrounding the position of the low pressure system means that there may be changes to exactly where we expect the bulk of the rain to fall as we look further ahead, so it's best to stay up to date with the latest MetService forecasts and severe weather warnings."
In Hawke's Bay, MetService says it's already a record wet start to the year with Napier Airport recording 420mm so far in 2022. The previous January-March maximum for this station was 390mm in 1979 (records began in 1951), and this is still with more heavy rain on the way.
For the rest of the country, the weather will be much more settled by comparison with around average temperatures. Rain in other North Island regions is on the way out on Friday as the low pressure system shifts eastwards. Meanwhile, the South Island will be mostly dry, with the main exception being a showery front moving northwards today.
1:46pm - Allan has thanked Police, Fire and Emergency, Civil Defence, volunteers, and everyone who's helped with the response over the past 36 hours.
Her press conference has ended.
1:45pm - It will be an ongoing discussion on whether more relief will be needed in the area, Allan says.
1:43pm - Allan says there's been minimal impact to animals in the floods and wild weather, but the same can't be said for fruits and vegetables.
1:38pm - Here's the full update from Kiri Allan:
The Government will contribute $175,000 towards a Mayoral Relief Fund to support people and communities most affected by the recent severe weather in Tairāwhiti, the Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan announced today.
"This community has had to deal with five other significant weather events - for which mayoral relief funds were not sought - in the past year, alongside COVID," Kiri Allan said.
"The latest downpour has been really tough on the region, with numerous evacuations and some outer rural communities cut off. The community needs swift support to help get back on its feet after this latest setback.
"While we know there's been considerable damage, it will take some days to understand the full impact of the storm."
Mayoral Relief Funds help communities bounce back after an emergency. Local communities and councils understand where the immediate needs are and how to help whānau, community organisations and marae.
The funds are in addition to other support that people may be eligible for through the Ministry of Social Development and Ministry for Primary Industries.
"As always, it's absolutely incredible to see how people on the East Coast have responded and pulled together to help each other," Kiri Allan said.
"We've got more work to do, but I want to thank everyone involved - from the community leaders, marae, emergency services, local CDEM and council through to the numerous agencies and those on the ground - for their incredible mahi in response to this emergency."
Kiri Allan says Waka Kotahi and its roading contractors are working tirelessly to clean up and debris across the state highway network and safely restore lifelines in and out of the region.
"And I know the Ministry for Primary Industries is also working really closely with groups on the ground and has its welfare emergency management team deployed to the region as additional on the ground support."
1:37pm - Minister of Emergency Management Kiri Allan is holding a press conference.
She has just announced that the Government will contribute $175,000 to the mayoral relief fund to helf with relief.
1:35pm - Photos have shown the impact the wild weather has had over the past two days near the Gladstone Bridge.
12:30pm - Waka Kotahi is urging motorists to take care and avoid unnecessary travel on roads around Palmerston North and the lower North Island.
This comes after the significant weather experienced in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay is now moving south towards the Wairarapa, and heavy rainfall is possible for Saddle Road.
Waka Kotahi national journey manager Helen Harris says motorists should expect the unexpected and remain alert.
"Avoid unnecessary journeys and take care. If you have to travel, drive to the conditions and watch out for surface flooding, slips, potholes, fallen trees or branches and downed powerlines," she says.
"Slow down and maintain a greater following distance between your vehicle and the one in front.
"Check your intended route for hazards or disruptions before setting out and remain alert for unreported hazards."
Harris asks motorists to be mindful of contractors who could be out clearing hazards off the road, and drive slowly through work sites.
"We want to see everyone get home safely. Stay safe and stay alert."
Updates will be posted on the Waka Kotahi social media pages (Facebook: facebook.com/WakaKotahiCNI and Twitter: twitter.com/WakaKotahiCNI) and on our Journey Planner website (journeys.nzta.govt.nz).
12:12pm - The Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan will hold a press conference at the emergency control centre in Gisborne at 1:30pm today.
We will have live updates of that press conference.
11:05am - Tokomaru Bay resident Lillian Te Hau Ward has described the conditions her community have experienced over the past couple of days describing it as "diabolical".
"A bit of a touch and go night but the rain has stopped, so fingers crossed we are pretty good up here," she told AM.
"Yesterday it was just diabolical. It was just throw your hands up in the air and hope for the rain to stop really, there was nothing we could do.
"A lot of the whānau had evacuated on Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning, thanks to some loving locals who do over-and-above what locals should do."
You can watch the full interview on the Youtube link below or here.
10:41am - MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the Gisborne region south of Gisborne city from 6pm today until 6pm on Friday.
It comes after an orange heavy rain warning was previously issued for Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay.
10:10am - Tairāwhiti Contractors have posted photos showing roads in the region in terrible condition following the wild weather.
They're asking residents in the region to avoid any unnecessary travel and to stay home.
"There has been a number of unnecessary rescue efforts due to unnecessary travel and a lot of unnecessary stoppages due to unnecessary traffic on the road," Tairāwhiti Contractors said.
"The ground, rivers and hills are still saturated with water causing movement everywhere - even with fine weather this movement will still happen for days to come."
9:51am - The rain is starting to ease in the Gisborne area but surface flooding still remains and MetService warns more rain at a lower intensity is on the cards for the rest of Thursday.
A number of roads around the region are closed. State Highway 2 north and south of Gisborne and State Highway 35 are closed because of flooding and slips.
Some of the birds in the region don't seem to mind the surface flooding in Gisborne, with footage showing a turkey floating down the Waipaoa River sitting on a log.
You can watch that footage in the video above.
9:39am - Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told AM on Thursday a lot has happened overnight as the rain continued to fall in the region.
"We had to evacuate communities to the west of Gisborne. The Manutuke community has evacuated because the Te Arai breached evacuation levels. We also had to go to Te Karaka because the Waipaoa River has reached evacuation levels. We have received lovely support from police and friends to door knock to get people out to safe spaces," she told AM.
Stoltz told AM it's the wildest 24-hours of weather she has ever witnessed.
"I have lived in Gisborne for 22-years and I have never heard anything like this. It's been going on for two days. It's a lot of water and I think there is still a lot more to come today, so we need to brace ourselves," she said.
Stoltz said the focus on Thursday is shifting to the area known as the Poverty Bay flats as the rain continues to move south.
"Yesterday we were more focused and we are still focused on northern areas …. where a lot was happening," Stoltz said.
"Overnight, a lot of rain happened to the west and south of Gisborne, so we are more looking to what we call the Poverty Bay flats this morning but we are asking our residents to please not go out today.
"If you can stay home, help us by staying home because you will be aware that State Highway 2 north and south are cut off. State Highway 35 up the coast was already closed yesterday. At this stage, Gisborne is cut off from the rest of New Zealand.
"Waka Kotahi is really going out of their way, they worked overnight to see how fast they can reinstate the roads for us.
Stoltz said everyone is doing "ok" but is urging people to keep checking the civil defence pages to keep up to date with all the information.
"Everyone is doing ok, people have been prepared, people have been staying home but people are nervous," she said.
"Gisborne the city is around three rivers, so people are cautious, people are watching our Tarawhiti Civil Defence page to get their information, which is fantastic.
"So we are asking our community please be alert, watch those river levels from home, listen to our civil defence, when we need to move we will but we are hoping things will settle down in the next 24 hours."
9:09am - MetService has lifted the red warning for Gisborne on Thursday morning but warns further periods of less intense rain are expected during the coming days.
They currently have no warnings or watches in places for the Gisborne area.
MetService has issued a orange heavy rain warning for Wairarapa -8am on Thursday to 4pm on Friday - and for Hawke's Bay - 6pm tonight to 8pm on Friday.
8:58am - There is still a number of roads closed on the East Coast of the North Island because of the weather.
Gisborne District Council are reporting 14 roads are closed in the area because of flooding and slips.
Here are the roads that NZTA reports are closed:
- State Highway 2 from Ormond to Opotik is closed because of flooding and slips.
- All of State Highway 35 from Gisborne to Potaka is closed because of flooding, slips and washouts.
- State Highway 38 in Frasertown at the intersection of Pakowhai Road is closed because of flooding.
- SH 2 Napier to Wairoa - Due to flooding and slips, the road is now closed. No detour is available.
You can find a list of all the road closures in the area is available here and on the NZTA website here.
8:46am - Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Dave Wilson told AM a number of communities across the district that have been cut off because of the severe weather.
"We are in contact with them to make sure people are safe but we have from Whareponga in the north all the way through to Te Karaka, Whatatutu, where we have people that have been cut off from just inundation across the roads there in those areas.
"We are pretty lucky here in Tairāwhiti, our community volunteers have been out, our partner agencies, Fire and Emergency NZ and rural NZ police officers have been out door knocking, ringing people through the night just to check on them, make sure they're ok and make sure people are aware of what's been happening as well."
Wilson described the rain overnight as "pretty torrential".
"We had about another 180mm just here in the city, we had upwards of 140-150mm up on the hills but it was just everything so inundated from the night's rain before so it was more than what we needed, that is for sure," he told AM.
He said anyone who is isolating because of COVID-19 can still evacuate because of the weather.
"Our big concern for our community right now is your safety from the event, which is the flood, so for Te Karaka and a couple of other areas, we have actually asked people to leave even though we know they were isolating," he said.
"If you are isolating, leave with your correct PPE on and make sure you let anyone you know, our community volunteers fire or police that you are isolating and we will set you up away from the general public who aren't in isolation. But our biggest priority at the moment is making sure our community is safe from the weather and we will deal with COVID once we have got you safe."
8:28am - Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Dave Wilson told AM they have had a "significant" amount of rain overnight.
"The big concern for us has been out towards the communities of Manutuke and out at Te Karaka. We have a number of whānau we've had to relocate there overnight just as the river levels got up to dangerous levels for low-lying areas," he told AM.
Wilson said about a dozen families have been relocated from those areas after surface flooding reached their properties.
"We had some where we know that there was surface flooding around them when the residents left and also in other parts of the district where we know we've got surface water around homes, we will be checking to see what that looks like as the sun comes up here this morning," he said.
"We are quite concerned about a number of rivers around the district, so here in the city in Gisborne, up in Tolaga Bay in Tokomaru Bay.
"Those rivers are already at capacity now, some of them have breached but it's also about any extra rain and what sort of effect that will have on those rivers and the surrounding land just given how wet everything is already up here at the moment."
8:16am - There could be some relief for Gisborne residents with MetService reporting the band of heavy rain, which hit the region is now moving south towards Hawkes Bay.
Gisborne recorded a month's worth of rain in seven hours, forcing residents in low-lying areas along the Waipaoa and Te Arai Rivers including Te Karaka to evacuate just after 1:30am.
"Gisborne Airport recorded a 'March worth of rain' in 7 hours - 86.9mm," MetService said.
"The band of heavy rain has moved south of Tairāwhiti / Gisborne and into Hawke's Bay.
"Parts of Gisborne will likely see some further rain today but at lower intensities."
8:05am - Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the wild weather hitting the North Island on Thursday.
