Morning Report for Thursday 6 April 2017

6:00 AM.A town in the Bay of Plenty is cut off, without power and people are trapped in their cars due to rising floodwaters. A relieved Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall says the river hasn't reached the… Read more Audio

6:06 AM.A update from the team at RNZ sport. Audio

6:08 AM.MetService's Stephen Glassey says the heaviest rain is moving into Canterbury and won't ease up until later tonight. He's not expecting Canterbury to have the same volume of rainfall as the North… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:36 AM.Eleven people are trapped in cars after being caught in floodwaters in Whakatane Audio

6:38 AM.Whanganui River is nearing its peak but our reporter in the city says civil defence staff now say they're not expecting it to flood. Audio

6:43 AM.The Government's data-sharing plan has suffered a second blow with the Privacy Commissioner rejecting a plan to force community groups to hand over clients' private details if they want state funding.

6:49 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

7:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:15 AM.A relieved Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall says the river hasn't reached the levels that were predicted and the city is not likely to be flooded. Audio

7:20 AM.A flooded stream forced the evacuation of 23 homes near Wellington's south coast. The airport reopened this morning after the bad weather forced its closure last night when signalling was disrupted. Audio

7:42 AM.Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the demand for private details was to ensure people receive the services they need, but she accepts the need to tackle privacy concerns. She says the… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.Reporter Phil Pennington investigates the use of pigtail hangers in Statistics House and whether the design engineer should have lowered the safety rating. Audio

8:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:08 AM.Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard Maclean says a slip has taken out a power pole, a gas line and the water mains in Newtown. He says there's a big mess to clean up, but it doens't look like… Read more Audio

8:17 AM.Jerome Mika, the spokesman for the family hit by a typhoid outbreak, says the family was not briefed by the hospital immediately after the death of their loved one. He says the hospital needs to apply… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.Epidemiologist Michael Baker says typhoid is not a particularly infectious disease, but this seems to be a big outbreak. He says typhoid can be quite hard to diagnose. Audio

8:23 AM.The owner of a Nelson charter boat firm, Lynley Bird, who moors her vessel on the wharf where a car was found submerged says the vehicle was found with hundreds of lead fishing sinkers in it. She says… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Northland principals frustrated by a lack of support for violent children say the funding squeeze is also hurting children with disabilities. Associations president Pat Newman has warned he's looking… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.Reporter Tracy Neil says police are keeping the family of Leo Lipp-Neighbours updated on their investigation, but details to the public have been sparse. She says the focus now is on how Leo's car… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:35 AM.A private Auckland school will pay reparations to two boys whose throats were slit in a school production of the muscial Sweeney Todd, but it won't be prosecuted. Audio

8:45 AM.Andrew Little has given evidence in the High Court in Wellington where he is defending the defamation suit filed by tourism operators, Earl and Lani Hagaman. He has admitted becoming frustrated… Read more Audio

8:50 AM.Some of rugby's biggest names say the Super Rugby competition is in trouble and needs big changes - an official plan to revise the championship is expected to be announced any day now. Audio

8:55 AM.A raft of new design ideas have been packed into Team New Zealand's fifty-foot catamaran, as the crew members pack their bags and head to Bermuda, with just seven weeks to go until the first race. Audio