Downpour proves boon for farmers
Tararua avoids brunt of cyclone
The heavy rain over the weekend brought delight to most farmers and gardeners with just over 100mm falling over 48 hours in Dannevirke and slightly more in the southern Tararua towns. A Mangahei sheep and beef farmer said the 100mm-plus in each weekend was perfect for pasture growth and his farm had not experienced any slipping or infrastructural damage.
With rain from the previous weekend raising the water table quite a lot, the latest rain ran off more into the rivers. The Makakahi River flow measurement on Saturday evening of 215,000 litres per second was the highest recorded for the river in the past 12 months.
The highest rain intensity was on Saturday, and caused areas of surface flooding and some slips that required temporary road closures, mainly around Woodville, Pahiatua and Pongaroa.
The rainfall from Cyclone Dovi was accompanied by strong winds on Sunday that caused trees to blow over, blocking the roads and causing more closures. Both the Pahiatua Track and Saddle Rd were affected but not at the same time.
Meanwhile the rain brought some relief to the Dannevirke Reservoir, although the turbidity of the Tamaki River at its peak meant the water could not be harvested, TDC infrastructure group manager Chris Chapman said on Tuesday.
“The river is settling, with flow reduced from around 10,000 litres per second to around 4000, and we are able to extract more than Dannevirke is using – with surplus going into the impounded supply (lined raw water reservoir).”
Tararua seems not to have been hit as severely by the cyclone as its neighbours in Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa. Chris Chapman said he was “very relieved the forecast didn’t eventuate”.