Flooding chaos
The severe weather that hit Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty yesterday put streets, campgrounds, cars and even
suburbs underwater.
Rotorua seemed to bear the brunt of the storm, after a State of Emergency was declared for Ngongotaha last night.
The Ngongotaha stream burst its banks and water began entering people's properties in the area, forcing homes to
evacuate. Around 30 houses had been evacuated, with possibly more overnight.
Rotorua Lakes Council mayor Steve Chadwick issued the State of Emergency, saying fast flowing water had broken from the stream into Ngongotaha.
She urged residents in the area who wanted to evacuate to wait for somebody to contact them, and to pack essentials.
Earlier, thirty-two people were trapped at the Agrodome, a tourist attraction in the area.
Earlier reports said 200 were trapped, but Nga¯ i Tahu Tourism later revised the number.
Twelve customers and about 20 staff were stuck at the farm park until Fire and Emergency New Zealand arrived and evacuated them to a clear road.
By yesterday afternoon, council's Emergency Operations Centre was activated and Civil Defence teams were mobilised.
Transport was organised for Ngongotaha residents to take them to the emergency welfare centre.
The Agrodome will be closed today, or until full structural checks can be made to the bridge and a site inspection completed.
Elsewhere in Rotorua, resident Jan Chesterman said a neighbour's sinkhole had collapsed.
‘‘The bank is breaking through. There’s quite a bit of water and rocks and whatnot coming down here.
‘‘It’s thundering past . . . If the weather gets much worse, it’s actually going to get quite serious.’’
Fire Services shift manager Scott Osmond said local stations were inundated with calls. By midday, they
had received more than 100 calls and had no hope of reaching everyone.
‘‘A lot of houses had flooded and cars are getting stuck in the water.
‘‘We’re trying to work through what we can do for people,’’ Osmond said. ‘‘Until water starts receding, there’s not enough that we can necessarily do.’’
In Waihi, fire chief Moe Stevens said the calls there started coming in early.
‘‘People driving into the floodwater and that sort of thing and a few garages, et cetera, [have] flooded.
‘‘There’s nowhere to pump the water – not a hell of a lot [we can do] in some cases. ’’
Whangamata volunteer chief officer Nigel Airey said a couple were rescued on Saturday night in Wentworth Valley, near Whangamata.
‘‘We rescued a couple out of a vehicle which was flooded,’’ Airey said. ‘‘They just drove through floodwaters and became trapped.’’
Yesterday afternoon, six campers at Wentworth Valley were believed to be stuck but safe at the campground.
Further north, Pauanui experienced flooding, too. Yesterday,
several roads in the town were affected, including Beach Road, which a resident said was a metre underwater.
The Hauraki was hit hard as well, and heavy rain continued to fall much of yesterday.
Hauraki District Council said there were reports of flooding in residential areas of Waihi, causing road closures.
State Highway 25 between Whiritoa and Whangamata was closed most of the day due to flooding. The Ohinemuri River Bridge on Barry Road in Waihi was closed as a precautionary measure until it could be assessed by a structural engineer.
Civil Defence said they expected more heavy rain throughout yesterday, combined with gusty winds.
‘‘We expect another 100mm of rain, which on top of the 120mm we have already received in the last 24 hours may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous,’’ a Civil Defence spokesperson said.
MetService duty meteorologist Ciaran Doolin said rainfall stations in the Coromandel showed ‘‘pretty impressive’’ hourly figures, about 15mm since 6am.
‘‘It’s not quite a downpour, but they are beefy showers.’’ High tide was expected at 6.20pm.
The Waikato Regional Council rain radar showed 180mm had fallen at the Pinnacles in the 24 hours to 10am yesterday.
It was one of a series of different fronts wrapping around a low pressure system currently off the western coast of Auckland.
‘‘The bank is breaking through ...and rocks and what not coming down here’’.
Jan Chesterman