Heavy rain has washed out a state highway and flooded homes overnight in the Thames-Coromandel area.
State Highway 25 is closed between Hikuai and Whangamatā Road due to a washout, NZTA said. People are asked to delay their journeys, avoid the area or expect significant delays.
It comes after the area was battered by wild weather with MetService issuing a heavy rain warning for the Coromandel Peninsula from 10pm on Sunday until 10am on Monday.
Locals were warned to expect between 70 to 100mm of rain, especially in the east, and up to 150mm in localised areas.
Heavy rain could cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips were also possible, MetService warned.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said firefighters were called to 17 flooded homes overnight - seven in Whangamatā and 10 in Tauranga.
They were also called to a fallen tree in Pukepoto in Thames-Coromandel in the early hours of Monday morning.
It comes just weeks after the Coromandel was completely cut off due to damage to the roads from Cyclone Gabrielle. Officials at the time described the damage to the region's roads as "carnage".
The roads to Coromandel are notoriously susceptible to weather damage but this summer has been worse.
And the continual damage is raising questions over their sustainability in the long term. Thames-Coromandel Mayor Len Salt told Newshub Nation in February they simply cannot afford to keep repairing these roads.
"We've got an emergency rehabilitation fund that our council and our ratepayers fund every year. That was cleaned out in November [2022]," Salt said.
And it's a sentiment shared by Transport Minister Michael Wood who told Newshub Nation, "If we just keep doing the things that we've been doing we will not have the infrastructure that we need to face the impacts of climate change in the years to come."
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins agreed, saying "We have to get real about some of the roads and the fact that we're going to have to move some of those roads to a place where they can be more resilient".
