Thames ‘spared’ wild, wet weather
Thames appears to have been the only area spared as much of the Coromandel district was lashed by wild, wet and windy weather.
More than 180mls of rain was measured, Thames Coromandel District Council Emergency Management Unit head Garry Towler said, and it had fallen mainly across the Coromandel, Mercury Bay and Eastern Seaboard area.
‘‘We’re just urging caution, even though the flooding may be gone, there’s still a lot of debris, a lot of slips and trees coming down,’’ Towler said.
‘‘Thames has been the only one really spared from any major effects.’’ But the district was not out of the woods.
Tomorrow would be all about whether water levels had reduced.
Civil Defence would monitor whether the catchment water had disappeared without being affected by tide changes.
Weather warnings were continuing to be put in place tomorrow with the public being asked to stay vigilant.
‘‘We are still putting out communications regarding safety. The community, they are used to this, but it’s mainly for visitors,’’ he said.
‘‘Our roading crews and our contractors will have a fair bit of a clean-up next week.’’
On Friday, a MetService orange-level heavy rain warning was in place until 9pm.
‘‘We are expecting short and intense,’’ Towler said earlier yesterday.
Two thousand properties around Coromandel town were without power because the wind was blowing trees into the lines.
A thick blanket of rain came down with strong gusts of wind in Hikuai all morning, causing surface flooding.
Several roads were partly flooded or impassable yesterday, including Hikuai Settlement Rd, heading towards Pauanui, Tairua Rd or State Highway 25, the onelane bridge to Pauanui, Port Jackson Rd at the Ohinewai Ford and Fletcher Bay Rd at the Muriwai Stream.