Big wet soaks CHB
March may have been a wet month for Central Hawke’s Bay and the rest of the region, but it was nothing compared to last week’s deluge.
Ex-tropical cyclone Debbie dumped 59.8mm of rain on CHB in the 24 hours to Wednesday, nearly as much as the 68.8mm of rain the district received for the entire month of March.
In total, CHB received 86.4mm of rain in the 48 hours to Wednesday according to district council figures, causing multiple road closures, surface flooding and slips.
Residents of Blackhead Beach Camping Ground were left isolated after the access road to the camp became impassable. Herrick St at Taylor’s Slab on the southern side of Onga Onga was cut by floodwaters and Argyll Rd, between Range Rd and Argyll School, was also closed.
There was surface flooding on many roads including Ashcott Rd, about 1km from the intersection with State Highway 2, while a slip temporarily reduced Pukeora Scenic Rd down to one lane.
The district’s rivers rapidly became torrents of fast-flowing brown water as levels rose by more than 2 metres.
The level of the Tukituki River at the Tapairu Rd monitoring site was sitting at just over 1.6m early Tuesday morning, but quickly rose 2.6m to peak at 4.2m just after midday on Wednesday.
The Waipawa River at State Highway 2 rose from similarly low levels to a peak of more than 3.4m after midday Wednesday; the Tukipo River at State Highway 50 peaked at nearly 3.9m, while the Porangahau River at the salesyard monitoring site peaked at a
massive 6.5m— just higher than the level recorded in the floods of October 2009.
Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence and Emergency management group controller Ian Macdonald said there were no issues with the region’s river control measures and drainage assets and he was “comfortable with the situation” during the deluge.
“We are extremely lucky in Hawke’s Bay to have a comprehensive river monitoring system which is monitored 24/7 by some very skilled and committed HBRC staff,” he said.