Another soaking, evacuations at Te Karaka

The Gisborne area took a a heavy one-two punch from the the rain, with another deluge forcing evacuations at Te Karaka on Tuesday night.

The same low pressure system that brought torrential downpours to the top of the district over the weekend, gave a backward kick to the Gisborne region, with rivers climbing to Cyclone Gabrielle levels on Tuesday night.

With the Waikohu River peaking at 9.4 metres at 10.15pm and the Waipaoa River at 6.9 metres, Waikohu Civil Defence issued an evacuation call over social media.

“Kia Ora whānau, the Kanakanaia River level is now sitting at 6.5. We are encouraging people to self- evacuate to town if you can do so safely.Please remember to ensure your pets are also safe as well. Please check in with our team to advise if you have self-evacuated and where you have evacuated to, please. We are also strongly encouraging people to NOT go over the Puha bridge for safety reasons.”

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence had earlier issued flood warnings for the Waipaoa.

The downpour caused surface flooding to rise rapidly and closed State Highway 2 between Makaretu Road and Whatatutu Road, but the floodwaters receded faster than expected and the highway was able to be reopened later in the night.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had a contractor on site clearing debris and silt.

All rivers in the inland area rose rapidly — the Wharekopae River hit 6m at 7.30pm and the Hikuwai River at Tolaga Bay reached the 6.9m mark.

Elsewhere, residents at East Cape are again cut off from Ōpōtiki, with a major slip at the Motu Bluffs, by the Motu River mouth.

Waka Kotahi advises the section of State Highway 35 from Hawai to Omaio is closed until further notice, and there is no detour available.

The rainfall over the 24 hours to 8am yesterday morning was mainly in the larger Gisborne area south of Tolaga Bay, with most places receiving at least 40-60mm.

However, Waipaoa Station has had 250mm in total over the past seven days, and Matawai has had 270mm in the same period.

The ground is now saturated once again over the whole region and land movement will be an ongoing concern. An example of the soaking was that out of 36.8mm of rain last Friday, 20.4mm of that ran straight off.

The MetService outlook for the next few days is for some scattered showers, and for the sun to return for Sunday and Monday.