Chopper dries out speedway track
A helicopter was called in to dry out the speedway track at Palmerston North’s Central Energy Trust Arena after the week’s big wet.
And forecasters are warning more rain is on the way.
Speedway organisers are determined this weekend’s North Island Stock Car Championships will go ahead, after they were postponed in January.
The championships were rescheduled for this Saturday and Sunday at the CET Arena.
Robertson Holden International Speedway track manager Bryan Puklowski said a helicopter was called in on Friday to dry the grounds after the week’s heavy rainfall. The chopper, which was there for one-and-half-hours, helped dry the grounds immensely, Puklowski said.
It wasn’t normal practice to call in aerial drying help, at a cost of $2000 to $3000, but the stock cars had to go ahead, he said.
‘‘People are coming from all around the North Island. We’ve got to make the event happen.’’
NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll said Palmerston North had 104 millimetres of rain in the first six days of April. The monthly average is 69mm. The city should also brace itself for more heavy rain from Tuesday.
It could be similar to the chaos created by Cyclone Debbie and the North Island was likely ‘‘in the firing line’’, Noll said.
The wet-weather pattern was likely to persist until late April, he said.
In a statement, Horizons Regional Council said waterways were still full, but slowly receding from Thursday. Horizons controller Ged Shirley said the council would continue to assess roads and infrastructure affected by the heavy rain.
An additional burst of rain elevated Manawatu River levels at the Teachers’ College, resulting in the decision to leave the Moutoa floodgates open until about 4pm on Friday. ‘‘This week’s event provides us with a good opportunity to go through the process and ensure we are prepared for future events.’’
A Palmerston North City Council spokeswoman said all sports grounds were open for the weekend, but Rangitane Park was still very wet and people were advised to stay out of flooded areas.
The Pahiatua Track was also open again, but there was still a lot of debris on the road, which contractors were working to clear, she said.
The Waitarere forest run in Horowhenua is also scheduled to go ahead on Saturday morning.