Rotorua and South Canterbury clobbered by flooding, Coromandel fears high tide

Sunday, 29 April 2018

Flooding in Rotorua on Sunday after heavy rain hit the North Island.

A State of Emergency has been issued by Rotorua Lakes Council mayor Steve Chadwick for residents in Ngongotaha.

Chadwick said Fire and Emergency New Zealand told her an emergency declaration was needed for the area after a number of homes were flooded. 'The banks of the Ngongotaha Stream have breached and quite fast flowing water has broken into Ngongotaha.'

A video from SunLive of flooding of Ohinemuri River, taken by Ben Haarmann, Rangiuru Rd, Te Puke by Jess Towgood, and a lightning strike last night over Mt Maunganui by Cameron Avery.

At least 24 houses were flooded, though that number could increase, Chadwick said.

Meanwhile, a search is under way in the Coromandel for the registered owner of a car found submerged in the Tairua River. The empty car was found off Hikuai School Road about 6pm and its owner was reported missing about half an hour earlier.

Police have refused to give any further details about the missing person, including their age or sex.

It comes after a day of wet weather that forced homes in both Rotorua and Timaru to be evacuated.

Flooding at Wentworth Valley, near Whangamata, has blocked people in staying at the camping ground.

Niwi figures show that between 10 and 11am, Rotorua had its wettest hour since hourly records began in 1964. In total the town recorded 167.8mm between 4am on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday.

It trapped 23 people at the Agrodome, a tourist attraction. Earlier reports said 200 were trapped, but Ngāi Tahu Tourism later revised the number.

Kuirau Park in Rotorua was underwater, with kayakers and skim boarders making the most of the flooding.

The stream that caused flooding at the Agrodome, Ngongataha Stream, was the reason for the state of emergency at Ngongotaha. Fire crews were helping the residents leave and would take them to an evacuation centre.

Chadwick urged affected resident to pack a small bag and wait for someone to come to them.

Flooding on the Whangamata and Waihi Road in the Coromandel.

In Timaru, three homes were evacuated when a bank behind one collapsed.

'South Canterbury has received a lot of rain so far this weekend, with Timaru Airport recording 100 millimetres in the 32 hours to 11am Sunday, while around 150mm has fallen further inland,' MetService meteorologist Peter Little said.

Fairy Springs Road in Rotorua about midday.

Little added an Environment Canterbury (ECan) weather station at Kakahu Bush recorded 128mm of rain fall between 8am Saturday and 8am Sunday.

'That is a lot of rain, certainly above warning amount.'

Motorists kept travelling on Fairy Springs Road in Rotorua despite the floodwaters.

Parts of State Highway 1 were flooded south of the town, joining the list of roads around the country made unpassable by the weather.

The Rotorua Lakes Council's Emergency Operations Centre has been activated and Civil Defence teams have been mobilised. The emergency welfare centre was opened on Sunday afternoon at the Energy Centre for displaced residents.

Flooding in Rotorua has reached cars' windows.

At one point on Sunday the water got so high that it started running through cars parked on the main street.

A council statement told residents wanting to evacuate the Ngongataha area to 'stay in your homes until someone is able to get you'.

Flooding captured by drivers in Rotorua, near the Skyline.

Anyone needing urgent help was asked to call 07 348 4199 as soon as possible.

Council warned people to be prepared and have a small bag with essentials ready to go.

The streets are flooded in Rotorua as traffic builds up on Sunday afternoon.

The Agrodome will be closed on Monday, or until full structural checks can be made to the bridge and a site inspection has been completed.

And in the Coromandel Peninsula, six campers were trapped by heavy rain at Wentworth Valley, near Whangamata. They are understood to be stuck but were safe on Sunday.

The storm system hitting Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty continued to rage into the early afternoon.

Further north in the Coromandel, Pauanui was experiencing flooding. On Sunday, several roads in the town were flooded, including Beach Road, which a resident said was a metre under water. The Hauraki Plains were hit hard as well.

Hauraki District Council said there were reports of localised flooding in residential areas of Waihi, causing road closures.

State Highway 1 just north of the Waimate SH82 turnoff in South Canterbury on Sunday morning.

The scene of a car crash and surface flooding on State highway 1 near Studholme in South Canterbury.

Flooding at Washdyke, near Timaru on Sunday morning

On Sunday, Beach Road in Pauanui was under three foot of water, a resident said.

Pauanui is one of the many places experiencing flooding in the Coromandel.

The Ohinemuri River Bridge on Barry Road, Waihi, has been closed as a precautionary measure until it can be assessed by a structural engineer. Detours are via Trig and Golden Valley roads.

State Highway 25 between Whiritoa and Whangamata was closed most of Sunday due to flooding, but re-opened at 5pm.

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.'

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Scott Osmond said local fire stations were inundated with calls about Rotorua. 'We have had over 100 jobs in Rotorua. We're attending as many as we can, but we can't get through all of them at the moment.'

In the Coromandel, Waihi fire chief Moe Stevens said the calls started coming in on Sunday morning.

'A lot of the cases, there's nowhere to pump the water - not a hell of a lot [we can do] in some cases. Any low-lying things, put them up high.'

Whangamata volunteer chief officer Nigel Airey said a couple were rescued on Saturday night in Wentworth Valley. 'We rescued a couple out of a vehicle which was flooded,' Airey said. 'They just drove through floodwaters and became trapped.'