Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has mobilised a task force to Tairāwhiti Gisborne as further rain is expected to beat down on the district overnight.
Tairāwhiti Gisborne remains under a state of emergency with a red heavy rain warning issued and there are concerns the rainfall will intensify on Friday night.
Meanwhile, a series of orange rain warnings and watches have been issued for the east of the North Island and top of the South Island.
!["Sustained rainfall [is] expected across the entire region until noon Sunday."](https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/06/weather-gisborne-council-urges-some-residents-to-self-evacuate-heavy-rain-warning-to-reach-red/_jcr_content/par/brightcovevideo/image.dynimg.1080.q40.jpg/v1687415187401/gisborne-flooding-CREDIT-GISBORNEDC-METSERVICE-220623-1120.jpg)
Weather watches and warnings:
- Tairāwhiti Gisborne - Red heavy rain warning
- The Ruahine Range, Kaweka Forest Park, and Hawke's Bay from State Highway 5 southwards - Orange heavy rain warning
- The ranges of Tasman west of Motueka - Orange heavy rain warning
- Eastern Marlborough south of Ward - Orange heavy rain warning
- Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty west of Te Puke - Heavy rain watch
- Hawke's Bay north of State Highway 5 - Heavy rain watch
Newshub's live updates have ended, Mā te wā.
9:45pm - Tairāwhiti Civil Defence says MetService has confirmed rain levels have dropped "a bit" from what was expected in the district.
South of Tolaga Bay is now expected to get 70 to 100mm of rain instead of 100 to 150mm. The same goes for north of Tolaga Bay, now expecting 150 to 200mm, instead of 200 to 250mm.
Coastal and low-lying areas should now expect 40 to 80mm of rain instead of 50 to 100mm.
In a Facebook post, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said rain should start to ease through Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
"Peak rain intensities have also dropped to 15 to 20mms per hour, down from 20 to 25mms."
But Civil Defence is urging residents to not be complacent because there are "still significant totals" on top of what's already hit.
9:00pm - FENZ has sent a task force team to the Tairāwhiti District as the region is beaten by heavy rain.
In a statement on Friday night, assistant national commander Steve Turek said a four-member crew from Hawke's Bay left at around 5pm on Friday evening, and a crew of four from Auckland flew to Gisborne at around 8:30pm.
"These teams make up a task force with the ability to assist in multiple numbers of ways with this weather event."
Turek said FENZ is working within the local state of emergency and "therefore under the control of Tairāwhiti Civil Defence".
"The flooding currently being experienced, while significant, is not beyond the capability of local multi-agency resources. This includes water rescue, if required, being carried out by Surf Lifesaving crews. This is standard practice in Tairāwhiti and we have [the] utmost confidence in the arrangement in place to meet the potential needs of the local communities."
8:23pm - It's been two hours since the heaviest rainfall was expected to move in across Tairāwhiti Gisborne and there have been no major reports from authorities.
MetService is expected to provide an update on Friday evening about its weather warnings and watches across the motu.
8:19pm - Tairāwhiti Gisborne has seen a "massive" amount of rain across the region over the past week.
In a Facebook post, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said the heaviest 24-hour rainfall was recorded from 3pm Wednesday to 3pm Thursday.
"Stay safe, hunker down and keep dry."
5:56pm - It is "absolutely pouring" with rain in Tairāwhiti Gisborne and the region's Mayor Rehette Stoltz says "we are as prepared as we can be".
The heaviest rain is expected to move across the region at about 6pm on Friday and then pass at 8pm.
Stoltz told Newshub evacuation centres have been set up across Tairāwhiti Gisborne for evacuated residents.
"Please take care, if you can just stay home. Don't use our roading network."
Stoltz shared a message for her community: "Kia kaha, we've done this before. We can do it again."
"Stay safe, stay updated," she added.
Welfare centres:
• Te Rawheoro Marae, Uawa/Tolaga Bay
• Tokomaru Bay have one at their marae
• Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae
• House of Breakthrough
• Ohako Marae, Manutuke
• Mangatu Marae, Whatatutu
• Te Karaka Area School
• Rangi Marie Marae, Motu Road is available for anyone needing accommodation due to the state highway closure at Matawai.
4:49pm - Tairāwhiti Civil Defence is encouraging residents in the region living in areas prone to flooding, near a river or in a low-lying area to "self-evacuate" as a precaution.
Heavy downpours are expected to beat down on the region at about 6pm on Friday and Tairāwhiti Civil Defence urges residents to not "wait for official warnings to evacuate".
"If in doubt - move out now before dark," it said on Facebook.
4:15pm - MetService says Auckland Airport has already recorded its average annual rainfall this year.
"And we're not even halfway through the year yet!" MetService said in a tweet.
Gisborne Airport is inching close to reaching the same. MetService said almost a year's worth of rain has fallen at Gisborne Airport in the first six months of 2023.
It's currently at 990.7mm, with its average annual fall being 999.8mm.
4:10pm - Hamilton City Council is urging its residents to "take care on the roads" after the damage caused by "sudden and intense" rainfall overnight.
In a Facebook post, the council said its teams have been working to deal with the impact of the downpour "which has caused damage in several parts of the city".
It said traffic flow may be impacted due to local slips and surface flooding.
3:51pm - MetService meteorologist Andrew James told Newshub heavy rain is being pushed into the northeastern quarter of the North Island, with an additional burst of heavy rain coming through on Friday evening and overnight.
"[This] sort of affects Tairāwhiti Gisborne and parts of Hawke's Bay and that does look set to move in this evening as they persist in overnight and through tomorrow."
He said regions under an orange heavy rain warning are being closely monitored, but at this stage, there is no reason for their warning to be upgraded to red.
2:49pm - Tairāwhiti District Council says the heaviest rainfall is expected at 6pm on Friday with sustained rain over the next two days.
In an update on Friday afternoon, a spokesperson said between 200 and 250mm of rain is expected to fall north of Uawa, between 100 and 150mm south of Uawa, and high tide is due at 9:53pm on Friday night.
It said welfare centres have been set up across the region while MetService's red heavy rain warning is in place until 12pm on Sunday.
Extra staff are being pulled into the region from across the motu to "bolster the number for a regional response".
"They're arriving from Police, St John, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Te Whatu Ora."
The council's principal scientist Murry Cave says landslides have already started to affect properties in the Whataupoko area.
"We do expect to see more land movement over the next few days.
"If you see signs of land movement on or near your property, please call Council."
In a statement, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller David Wilson said around 30 people have evacuated to welfare centres in town.
"This is the third state of emergency we've had this year and the fifth in less than two years," Wilson said.
"We know our community is resilient however please let us know if you need any assistance.
"Please take care if you're driving. We are asking people to delay unnecessary travel as roads are very fragile."
2:35pm - Rural Central Hawke's Bay resident Grant Charteris says the Gwavas Bridge is his "lifeline", but it's close to being washed away as rain continues to fall and rivers rise.
Charteris told Newshub his community is "just not getting a break" as large amounts of rain risk his family and community becoming isolated.
"The river's gone and eaten out by the pillars and now we're losing the approach to the bridge."
Charteris says there is an alternative route from rural home back to mainland, but that's a 40-minute drive instead of 5 minutes when using the bridge.
He told Newshub it's a "very anxious" wait as more rain is forecast over the next 24 hours.
"It's what damage we're going to get over the next 24 hours is really scary."
2:34pm - A low-pressure system is expected to remain "slow-moving" over northern New Zealand for the next few days.
MetService say the system will bring period of prolonged rain, which will be heavy at time and batter regions already saturated regions.
