Tairāwhiti Civil Defence has declared a state of emergency as severe flooding impacts the Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay area.
Tolaga Bay Civil Defence manager Greg Shelton told AM conditions in the area were looking "pretty nasty" and half a dozen residents had been evacuated because of the "very high levels" of the Hikuwai River.
State Highway 35 from Gisborne around East Cape to Ōpōtiki is closed because of flooding and slips while the Mangahauini Bridge at Tokomaru Bay has split as the wild weather batters eastern parts of the North Island.
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 who were trapped in a digger 12km north of Tolaga Bay have been rescued safely and are fine.
- State Highway 35 from Gisborne to Ōpōtiki is closed because of flooding and slips.
- Tolaga Bay Civil Defence manager Greg Shelton said the conditions in the area are looking "pretty nasty" and half a dozen residents have been evacuated.
- 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.
This article is no longer being updated. More on Newshub Live at 6pm.
3:55pm - The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) says parts of SH35 between Gisborne and Ōpōtiki, closed by flooding and slips, will reopen temporarily on Wednesday afternoon.
"Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will reopen State Highway 35 between Gisborne and Tolaga Bay and Potaka and the Ruatoria intersection with SH35 for four hours between 2pm and 6pm this afternoon to allow people to get home or travel for essential purposes ahead of more heavy rain setting in again later this evening," NZTA says. "Waka Kotahi will reassess in morning, with a view to open at 10am.
"The road will remain closed between Tolaga Bay and Te Puia Springs, where it is unsafe to reopen the road."
3:27pm - Heavy rain is heading back to the Gisborne region, MetService says.
The forecaster says thunderstorms are also popping up through the Auckland and Waikato regions.
2:55pm - WeatherWatch says thunderstorms are developing in East Cape as heavy rain closes in from eastern Bay of Plenty.
2:20pm - Some heavy showers are developing over the Auckland region, MetService says.
"We have a severe thunderstorm watch for this afternoon and evening," the forecaster says. "We will issue warnings on any severe thunderstorms that may develop."
1:40pm - MetService says an active line of thunderstorms can be seen heading towards the East Cape.
The forecaster says there have been about 1526 lightning strikes in the past two hours.
1:27pm - Aerial footage has shown the extent of the flooding in areas around Tolaga Bay.
It comes after Tairāwhiti Civil Defence declared a state of emergency earlier on Wednesday, as the area battles with one-in-100 year rainfall.
MetService has a severe thunderstorm watch in place for Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, which could produce localised downpours of 25-50mm/h.
1:12pm - Hawke's Bay Civil Defence is warning residents to prepare for more heavy rain over the rest of the day.
Here is the full statement from Hawke's Bay Civil Defence:
The Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (HB CDEM) is monitoring and preparing for potential impacts of the weather event that may bring heavy rain to the region.
MetService are forecasting a low to develop northeast of the North Island on Thursday where the weather system is expected to direct south to southeast flow across central and northern New Zealand for a few days.
Group controller Ian Macdonald said a MetService Orange Rain Warning remains in force for Hawke's Bay and that HB CDEM had moved to a 'Monitoring' mode of operation on Wednesday morning due to the uncertainty of the weather situation.
"We're urging residents in Hawke's Bay to be prepared for heavy rain. We have spoken to MetService and their advice is that the situation is complex with a great deal of uncertainty, but heavy rain in Hawke's Bay is possible, with the potential for continued rain and swells into the weekend," Macdonald said.
"With this in mind, we are monitoring the regional situation and preparing to coordinate an effective and efficient emergency response if required.
"This morning, we held a regional controllers and emergency services briefing and we will all be catching up again later this afternoon.
"At the moment there are no significant impacts, and the forecast has reduced the expected rainfall over the next 24 hours.
"Based on the latest advice from Hawke's Bay Regional Council engineers, using current rainfall forecasts and modelling, we are expecting around an annual (one-in-one year) weather event from areas in Napier to Wairoa.
"All of the major rivers are in good condition with river mouths open, and all councils in the region have put Business Continuity Planning (BCP) measures in place, including checking and preparing stormwater systems and drainage pumps, and informing vulnerable communities.
"Councils in the impact areas have put staff on standby for their Incident Management Teams.
"At this stage we're not anticipating the need to activate the Group Emergency Coordination Centre or the need for significant evacuations," Ian Macdonald said.
Ian Macdonald said he had spoken to the emergency manager in Tairāwhiti, where a state of emergency had been declared earlier this morning.
"We are looking at how we can support them into next week, assuming we do not have significant issues here ourselves and we can maintain our capability with continuing impacts from COVID and our support to that response.
"While the rain is not significant now, we need to be aware that there is still a few days of rain forecast and, given the level of uncertainty, things can change quickly.
"We're urging people in the region to be prepared should the weather escalate.
"Heavy rain can cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible.
"If you're concerned about any surface ponding then please contact your local council.
"Driving conditions may be hazardous, so please drive to the conditions.
"This might be a good weekend to stay in and catch up on those movies or TV shows you've been recommended.
"Everyone in Hawke's Bay should keep up-to-date with the forecast and conditions over the next few days," Ian Macdonald said.
1pm - MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Northland, Auckland and Waikato from 2pm to 9pm on Wednesday.
"Thunderstorms are expected to develop over southern parts of Northland (from about Whangarei southwards), Auckland and Waikato this afternoon, with localised downpours," MetService says.
"Between about 2pm and 9pm today (Wednesday), some of the thunderstorms may be severe within this area producing localised downpours of 25-50mm/h.
"Rainfall of this intensity can cause surface and/or flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips."
MetService warns driving conditions will be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.
There is also a severe thunderstorm watch in place for Bay of Plenty and Gisborne from 4pm to midnight on Wednesday.
"A band of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms is expected to move onto eastern Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne this afternoon with downpours or torrential rain," MetService says.
"For the area between about Opotiki and Ruatoria, thunderstorms embedded within broader areas of rain may produce localised rainfall rates of 25-50mm/h (or possibly higher) between about 4pm and midnight tonight (Wednesday).
"Rainfall of this intensity will cause surface and/or flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips."
12:45pm - UAWA Live has posted photos showing the significant flooding, which has hit the Tolaga Bay area.
Photos show the extensive flooding, which has caused slips, cars to be submerged and roads to be wiped out.
12:33pm - MetService has provided the key information people in the North Island need to be aware of as large parts continue to be battered by the wild weather.
A Red Warning for heavy rain was issued this morning for the Gisborne region, advising people to act now. Heavy rain is going to return to the area after the overnight deluge, causing further flooding, slips, road closures and possible power outages.
Severe thunderstorms may strike Auckland, Northland and Waikato this afternoon.
Rain is expected to linger in some eastern areas of the North Island throughout the week, into the weekend and possibly into next week.
12:16pm - Gisborne District Council has reported the closure of 12 roads due to flooding in the region with some completely washed out and others hit by slips.
The bridge approach to Waikura Road has been washed out, 36km of Tiniroto Road is cut off due to slips and 4km of Waihua road is closed because of slips
You can find a list of all the road closures in the area is available here.
11:46am - Just a reminder, MetService has announced a red warning for Gisborne after torrential rain overnight and the next "intense band" of rain, which will go into Thursday.
MetService says the red warnings are reserved for the most severe weather events:
When an event is expected to be among the worst that we get – it will have a significant impact and it is possible that a lot of people will be affected.
During a Red Warning, Act now! Immediate action is required to protect property, people and animals from the impact of the weather.
People should also be prepared to follow the advice of official authorities and emergency services.
Here is the full statement from MetService:
This morning a state of emergency was declared for the Tairāwhiti Gisborne area as torrential rain lashed the area overnight. Between 200-300mm of rain fell overnight, with rainfall rates up to 50mm/hr in places, fuelled by extremely humid northerlies. With more heavy rain expected today, and in consultation with Gisborne Regional Council, MetService has extended the Rain Warning for Gisborne until early Thursday morning, and have also upgraded the warning to a Red Warning for Heavy Rain.
MetService Meteorologist David Miller states, ‘MetService Red Warnings are reserved for the most severe weather events when significant impacts can be expected, such as flooding and damage to roads and powerlines, and possibly isolating communities. As such, immediate action should be taken by people in the region to ensure their safety. Advice on what to do in an emergency can be found at getready.govt.nz’.
Outside of the Tairāwhiti Gisborne region, Orange Heavy Rain Warnings are also in force for the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki, while a Heavy Rain Watch is active for Taupō.
Additionally, much of the country is at risk of seeing thunderstorms with localised downpours today, and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for Northland, Auckland and Waikato.
11:36am - Gisborne District Council is urging people to avoid unnecessary travel on our local rural roads.
"Staff and contractors are inspecting the roads and will prioritise the clearing. Be aware of surface flooding and washouts."
11:25am - Uawa Civil Defence for Tolaga Bay has posted videos and photos showing the surface and river flooding caused by severe weather.
11am - Gisborne District Council have told Newshub the two contract road workers who were trapped in a digger by slips and flooding 12km north of Tolaga Bay have been rescued safely and are fine.
10:50am - Gisborne District Council have provided an update on the severe weather hitting the region on Wednesday morning.
They said the level of rain was an event that happened once in a hundred years after record rainfall overnight with Te Puia, Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay bearing the brunt of the weather.
Gisborne District Council said people have been evacuated from their homes in Mangatuna, Uawa, Anaura Bay, Kaiaua, Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay, while others are self-evacuating.
Volunteers went door-to-door in the early hours of Wednesday morning in some areas to alert families.
Everyone that was evacuated are heading to either family or friends places, marae's or the local fire station.
The Hikuwai River peaked at 12.8m and while it's dropping, more rain is expected from later on Wednesday afternoon. Areas close to the river experienced between 222mm to 234mm of rain overnight.
State Highway 35 remains closed from Okitu north after the bridge at Tokomaru Bay was washed out while a number of local roads are also closed.
One person was successfully rescued from a car that ended up in the river at Tokomaru Bay. Power lines are down across roads with numerous slips and people are being encouraged to look out for any lines across roads.
Dave Wilson, group controller for Tairāwhiti Civil Defence, who declared the state of emergency at 6.30am, is asking people to stay off the roads and urging people to call in damage and flooding to Council's 0800 653 800 number.
"Have a plan in case you need to evacuate and check on whānau and neighbours. Please do let us know if anyone needs help," he said.
10:25am - UAWA Live has posted photos showing evacuations taking place in the Mangatuna area.
10:15am - MetService has announced a red warning for Gisborne after torrential rain overnight and the next "intense band" of rain on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
"Downpours of 50mm/hr are possible which will see impacts occur very quickly."
According to MetService the red warning is:
When an event is expected to be among the worst that we get – it will have significant impact and it is possible that a lot of people will be affected.
During a Red Warning, Act now! Immediate action is required to protect property, people and animals from the impact of the weather.
People should also be prepared to follow the advice of official authorities and emergency services.
9:58am - Eastland Network said over 700 people on the East Coast are without power, and crews are being hampered by the access issues caused by the wild weather.
"With the roads closed, one of our faultmen walked 4km in the rain to check the Tokomaru substation and is patrolling Toko on foot.
"We're sending a couple of our team up soon via helicopter. They'll land in Toko to try and get power back on there, then meet a crew on the other side of the washed-out bridge."
9:50am - Gisborne District Council has posted a video showing the bridge going into Tokomaru Bay being majorly affected by the severe weather.
The damage has seen the road split, which is cutting people off from the town as the road is not useable.
9:42am - NIWA Meteorologist Ben Noll told Newshub the eastern parts of the North Island will likely see heavy rain into Friday morning, which could cause flash flooding, river flooding and potentially some areas being cut off.
He said the bad weather for Gisborne will be a "prolonged event" into Thursday and maybe even Friday morning.
"Auckland was such an abrupt event, it came and went very quickly, it was very, very intense for a short period, whereas this one is a little bit longer-lived," Noll said.
"So the difference there is the intensity versus this one, which lasts a little bit longer but can provide similar impacts. We have seen Gisborne get hit a number of times over the last year with flooding events, so this is along the lines of what we have been seeing."
Noll urged everyone on the eastern part of the North Island not to take this weather event lightly and to keep safe and up to date with all the local weather information.
"I think northern Hawke's Bay, so the Wairoa area, probably north of Hawke's Bay, about the northern Hawke's Bay ranges, so certainly that area could be dealing with some flooding and it's going to be quite an extensive event there," Noll told Newshub.
"It will just rain for several days, the grounds start to become quite soggy overall so they can't soak in that additional rain that keeps falling and that's when you have the flooding issues.
"So anywhere from Tauranga over to Whakatane, east cape down to Gisborne and southwards to Wairoa, that northeastern corner of the North Island, anywhere in there will definitely want to be aware, alert and ready to potentially act based on the weather."
9:13am - MetService said the current rain warning in place for Gisborne is being extended after parts of the area recorded between 150-250mm of rain in the 12 hours up to 9am.
9am - MetService is warning about Thunderstorms and Downpours on Wednesday for large parts of New Zealand.
"Much of the North Island is at risk of thunderstorm activity today, with a risk of localised downpours for some areas."
8:57am - A Tokomaru Bay local said he and his dog were forced to seek higher ground and sleep in his four-wheel-drive overnight.
It comes after a state of emergency was issued by the Tairāwhiti Civil Defence after major flooding saw evacuations ordered in some areas.
8:49am - The rain is continuing to fall in the eastern parts of the North Island.
Footage posted by UAWA Live shows major flooding to State Highway 35 north of Tolaga Bay.
8:45am - Gisborne District Council has posted photos showing the damage and flooding the wild weather is doing in Te Puia and Tokomaru Bay, north of Tolaga Bay.
Gisborne Council is urging people to stay off the roads and avoid unnecessary travel.
8:35am - Tairāwhiti Civil Defence has declared a state of emergency following flooding impacts from the severe weather.
"Tairāwhiti Civil Defence have ordered evacuations in affected areas due to high river levels and more rain expected.
"If you need to evacuate, take your grab bags and pets, remember your medications, and check in on your neighbours if you can."
8:23am - Tolaga Bay Civil Defence manager Greg Shelton said the conditions in the area are looking "pretty nasty".
Shelton told AM the rescue operation is still ongoing to save the two road workers trapped in a digger 12km north of Tolgaga Bay.
"We were short of them by about 4km, the water just got too deep to get an eight-wheeler truck through, so we are sort of holding fire," he told AM.
Shelton said they have a rescue team from Gisborne coming up who are about 20 minutes away, which has an IRB (inflatable rescue boat) to help with the rescue.
He said the two road workers are doing "ok" but have been stuck in the digger for three or four hours.
"They're in a digger but the water is coming up to the bottom, we are just kind of hoping the rain might ease off to keep the water level at that level or even subside."
Shelton said he hasn't heard a lot about any other damages that the flooding has caused as conditions are making it challenging to get a helicopter up to assess the area.
He said they still have a bit of thunder and lighting and quite heavy rain urged everyone in the area to keep safe and warm.
"My message to everybody is, keep calm, keep warm. Like always if you don't have power, light a fire and keep warm. Please don't try and go anywhere .. we will get to you."
7:45am - MetService is warning of heavy rain to hit Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, and the Bay of Plenty on Wednesday with a heavy rain warning in place.
MetService said Hawke's Bay should expect 100 to 130mm of rain to accumulate, but 130 to 200mm north of Napier with peak rates of 15 to 25mm/h.
In Gisborne, MetService is expecting 70 to 100mm of rain to accumulate, but some localised areas may see 100 to 150mm especially north of Tokomaru Bay.
They said should expect peak rates of 15 to 25mm/h, but localised downpours of 25 to 45mm/h are likely in thunderstorms.
In Bay of Plenty, the forecasting company said the area should expect 150 to 230mm of rain to accumulate, though some localised areas may see larger accumulations of up to 280mm.
MetService says the peak rates will be 15 to 25mm/h, but localised downpours of 25 to 45mm/h are likely in thunderstorms.
They say the impacts of the heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly, surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.
7:28am - Tolaga Bay Civil Defence manager Greg Shelton told AM on Wednesday the area is currently experiencing rain, lightning and thunder as the wild weather damages infrastructure in the area.
"We've got a lot of bridges with one or two-metre gaps, so basically the whole infrastructure on the coast is shut down at the moment," he told AM. "That's through flooding undermining bridges and just taking out the whole road."
Shelton said the Hikuwai River is currently at 12.6 metres, well above its normal height of 1.5 metres.
"Early on we were looking at 40cm an hour [of rain], we got to half a metre for every hour that ticked on by," he said.
"We are currently at 12.6 metres and given the fact the Hikuwai River normally runs at 1.5 metres, 12.6 is well above where we were through Cyclone Bola.
"It hasn't settled for quite a few hours now and rain keeps on coming down with lighting and thunder."
Shelton said half a dozen residents have been evacuated from the Mangatuna area while two road workers are trapped in floodwaters 12 kilometres north of Tologa Bay
"We currently got two road workers trapped in a digger. We can't get a helicopter up to them so at the moment we are getting a search and rescue squad up from Gisborne," he said.
"Hopefully, they can get up here with their boats and get to these people in time."
7:05am - Uawa Civil Defence for the Tolaga Bay area says that Waihau Bay Beach Road has a big slip across it and it's not safe to pass.
"Power lines are down between Uawa and Turanga (Gisborne). A further reason not to venture out on SH35. Keep safe, stay safe," Uawa Civil Defence says.
7am - UAWA Live is reporting there is major surfacing flooding, multiple slips and trees/logs have fallen onto roads around Tolaga Bay while the Mangahauini Bridge at Tokomaru Bay has split.
They are urging people in the area to avoid travelling as the wild weather hits the eastern parts of the North Island.
6:55am - Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the wild weather hitting the North Island on Wednesday.
