Rain-lashed region set for another soaking as slips close roads
Showers will linger today and tomorrow once rain clears and strong southwesterlies should ease off this morning after periods of torrential rain across Northland.
A low from the north prompted MetService to issue an orange heavy rain warning and strong wind watch for Northland that were forecast to end early this morning.
Rainfall figures from the Northland Regional Council show the heaviest rain in the 24 hours to 5pm yesterday fell in Ngunguru at Dugmores Rock (27.5mm), Touwai at Weta (27mm), Glenbervie Forest (25.5mm) Whakapara at Puhipuhi (23mm until 4pm), Kaeo at Bramleys, Waitangi at Wiroa Rd 2, Waitangi at McDonald Rd and at the Bay of Islands Gold Club in Kerikeri (22.5mm),
Waiotemarama Gorge Rd in South Hokianga has been closed by a major slip and is unlikely to reopen fully until early next month.
The road cuts inland through Waima Forest from Pakanae on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway (State Highway 12) just before pononi. It rejoins the highway just west of Waimamaku.
The slip, which began during Tuesday’s heavy rains, has now undermined a significant section of road.
A temporary fix to the Far North’s West Coast Rd, badly damaged in heavy rain this week is due to be completed by the end of today — just as more torrential rain is expected across the region.
The serious slump left the road too dangerous to use on Monday night. The road closure cut off Panguru and settlements further west including Mitimiti and RangiŌ Point.
Urgent repairs on Tuesday reopened the road to traffic in one direction at a time.
A Far North District Council spokesman said as of yesterday morning, contractor Fulton Hogan had trucked in 180cu m of aggregate to repair the slump.
Once a damaged culvert was replaced, backfilling would return the road to two lanes.
The damaged section of West Coast Rd would remain unsealed at least until the summer construction season while engineers designed a permanent fix. A reduced speed limit would apply in the meantime.
Trains operated by the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust, which normally run daily in the school holidays, have been cancelled until further notice after the railway line east of Kawakawa was damaged by flooding.
Trust secretary Anne Leitch said the track at Farmers’ Crossing, between Kawakawa and Taumarere, had started to slump.
Workers had added extra ballast to prevent a washout, and returned during yesterday’s heavy rain to further shore up the tracks.
By noon Wednesday, even before the latest downpour, MetService said Kerikeri had recorded 236mm of rain in July so far, well above the 189mm average for the entire month.