Heavy rain is lashing the Bay of Plenty on Wednesday leaving people trapped, townships cut off, homes without power, endangering animals and causing surface flooding.
Whakatāne District Council has not made any evacuation orders but is urging locals to self-evacuate if they feel unsafe.
"Council has not requested anyone in the Whakatāne District evacuate from their homes, schools or workplaces," the council said.
"If anyone feels unsafe, we encourage you to self-evacuate to friends or family / whānau, however, this is up to the individual and not a request from Whakatāne District Council."
FENZ 'ready to respond'
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is preparing and sending resources where they're needed as regions across the motu brace for severe weather.
In a statement, deputy national commander Brandan Nally said FENZ is being proactive in making early preparations, with decisions on deployments having been made on Wednesday.
"Northland is already seeing some impacts of heavy rain, so we have sent resources, including some of our USAR capability to Kaikohe in Northland."
Nally said more deployments will be considered for other locations as more weather modelling comes to hand.
"Although there is still some uncertainty about exactly where the rain will hit, we are ready to respond where we are needed."
Nally said extra resourcing is ready to be deployed at short notice.
"Our focus is on supporting our communities, some of which have already been affected by previous events this year, most notably Cyclone Gabrielle.
MetService weather warnings and watches
At 9pm on Wednesday, MetService updated its weather warnings and watches. They said that these are in force for many areas and more will be added during the coming days.
They encourage people to stay up to date with forecasts.
The areas under an orange heavy rain warning are:
Northland
- Period: 25hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 9pm Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Expect 80 to 120 mm of rain on top of what has already fallen, mainly in the north and west. Peak rates of 10 to 20 mm/h but up to 40 mm/h possible in thunderstorms. Note, more rain expected about northern areas during Friday.
Waitomo
- Period: 22hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 6pm Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Expect 90 to 130 mm of rain, mainly west of Te Kuiti. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h or possibly more.
Fiordland north of Doubtful Sound
- Period: 4hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - midnight Wed, 3 May
- Forecast: Expect 30 to 50 mm of rain in addition to what has already fallen. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h, with thunderstorms possible.
Taranaki north of Opunake to Whangamomona
- Period: 33hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 5am Fri, 5 May
- Forecast: Expect 350 to 450 mm of rain about the Mountain, 150 to 200 mm west of Urenui to Stratford, and 100 to 150 mm farther east. Peak rates of 25 to 35 mm/h, especially about the Mountain. Note, this is a significant amount of rain, and this warning may be upgraded from orange to red in Thursday morning's issue.
Tongariro National Park
- Period: 24hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 8pm Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Expect 100 to 140 mm of rain. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h.
Horowhenua to Wellington including the Tararua Range
- Period: 28hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - midnight Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Expect 100 to 130 mm of rain. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h.
Marlborough north of the Awatere Valley, also Nelson and Tasman from Motueka eastwards
- Period: 39hrs from midnight Thu, 4 May - 3pm Sat, 6 May
- Forecast: Expect 200 to 300 mm of rain about the ranges and the Rai Valley, and 100 to 150 mm elsewhere. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h. Note, prior to this a brief period of heavy rain expected Wednesday night through to early Thursday morning
Westland south of Otira
- Period: 10hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 6am Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Expect 50 to 80 mm of rain about the ranges, and 20 to 40 mm about the coast. These amounts are in addition to the rain that has already fallen. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h about the ranges in possible thunderstorms.
The areas under a yellow heavy rain watch are:
Western parts of Auckland and Waikato
- Period: 22hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 6pm Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria.
Taumarunui, southern Taranaki, Taihape and northern Whanganui
- Period: 25hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 9pm Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria especially about the ranges. Note, heavy rain about southern Taranaki may continue into Friday.
Tasman northwest of Motueka
- Period: 12hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 8am Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, and amounts may approach warning criteria. Note, a more significant and prolonged period of rain is forecast to develop Friday morning, and a warning will likely be issued closer to the time.
Buller south of Karamea
- Period: 7hrs from 8pm Wed, 3 May - 3am Thu, 4 May
- Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, and amounts may approach warning criteria. Note, periods of heavy rain are forecast to return to all of Buller on Friday, and a warning will likely be issued closer to the time.
Power outages and road closures
Powerco's website at 5pm showed 105 properties are without power over the North Island in Tangimoana, Feilding, Tauranga, Hawera, Mount Maunganui and Tinui.
Raewyn Chapman, a resident from the small town of Awakeri in the Bay of Plenty, told Stuff she was isolated with no way out from her home.
She said water had completely flooded and surrounded her property and was still rising.
It's also been reported that stock had to be moved from flooded paddocks to the only piece of dry land left in a hay barn.
Whakatāne District Council has urged locals to "stay off the roads" as there are multiple slips and areas of surface flooding throughout the region.
"The rain has continued to fall overnight and there are multiple issues right across the District," Whakatane District Council said.
"We will update this post throughout the day so please keep a close eye on it to help keep you and your whānau safe."
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) reported that State Highway 2 between Tāneatua and Nukuhou is closed because of multiple slips and is urging people to stay off the roads in the area if possible.
Whakatāne District Council also said SH2 between Awakeri to Matekerepuru is closed due to flooding, downed powerlines and slips.
The townships of Tāneatua and Rūātoki are isolated, with the council working on reinstating access.
The council has also issued a water usage warning for everyone in central Whakatāne, particularly from north of Domain Rd in the Pohutu catchment.
The council asks people to limit the use of wastewater if possible, as the system is overloaded with rainwater.
Ruatoki residents are advised to boil their water until further notice.
“This means don’t flush your toilets, limit shower use and let the dishes and washing pile up til further notice," the council said.
Whakatāne River has also reached its second warning level, which means the river is rising but is still contained within its banks.
"There is no immediate concern, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council is monitoring this and all rivers across the District closely."
Humidity to bring heavy rain - NIWA
NIWA forecaster Chris Brandolino told AM on Wednesday the humidity from the tropics is fuelling the heavy rain, which is going to lash New Zealand over the coming days.
"Where the rain does fall, it will fall really hard. It's humid outside, so if you're watching right now and you live in the upper North Island and you think 'Boy it feels really humid', that humidity is coming from the tropics. That is the fuel for the rain," Brandolino told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
"Whenever we have tropical moisture, that does increase the odds, elevates the stakes for heavy rainfall.
"Nearly all of our big rainfall events historically are when our air comes from the north, that's where the fuel is for rainfall and this is what we have now."
Brandolino warns the heavy rain will shift from the Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty to Northland, Taranaki, Wellington and Nelson.
"Those are areas that probably have the best chance of things going to an undesirable direction, to put mildly, those are the areas that it's most likely to happen, doesn't guarantee it," he said.
"We like when there's certainty in the world, but unfortunately, in this case, there's not a lot of certainty, there's a fair amount of uncertainty and that is mainly where does the rain fall as opposed to if the heavy rain will occur."
Brandolino told AM the "unusual warmth and humidity" that Auckland is currently seeing will continue for the rest of the week.
"To put that in perspective, the typical maximum temperature in Auckland for the month of May is around 18 degrees, so our temperatures at night are warmer than what they would normally be on a typical May day," he said.
"It's really unusually warm, no doubt about it and it's going to persist for several more days, into the weekend, this unusual warmth and humidity."
