12 Apr 2017

Bay of Plenty in state of emergency, bracing for intense rain

From Morning Report, 7:10 am on 12 April 2017

The Bay of Plenty is bracing for up to 250 milimetres of rain from Cyclone Cook, which is expected to hit the already devastated region from lunchtime.

Visible infrared satellite animation of Cyclone Cook spanning 1:30-4:00 UTC time on the 10th of April 2017.

Visible infrared satellite animation of Cyclone Cook spanning 1:30-4:00 UTC time on the 10th of April 2017. Photo: NOAA - Satellite Image

A state of emergency was declared for the entire region yesterday, extending the previous state of emergency declared for Whakatane last week.

That was when the entire town of Edgecumbe was evacuated after a stopbank failure led to extensive flooding.

Since then only the residents of about 175 houses have been able to return.

All schools and early childhood centres in Whakatane, Opotiki and Kawerau are closed today.

NIWA meteorologist Chris Brandolino says we're going to see a repeat of last week's rainfall and can expect impact from flooding and slips across the North Island and upper South Island.

And the grim forecast has many residents in Edgecumbe concerned it'll delay their return to their homes.

Edgecumbe resident Bernadine Ngaheu who was standing on the road with her grandson when the river breach occurred and says there was no warning at all.

She's worried about water sweeping back into properties with the next lot of rainfall.

Civil Defence in Bay of Plenty is working to make sure the entire region is prepared for the storm which is expected to hit from midday.

The group controller Clinton Naude says a regional council team is out cleaning up and doing repairs around Edgecumbe - and it's ongoing work.

He says they're doing inspections across all the flood banks, and repairing and  reinforcing where necessary.

Clinton Naude's emphasising the bad weather is predicted to hit the whole region, not just the areas which have already been hard hit.