Flooding is occurring again around Wairoa and some residents in the northern Hawke's Bay town have now been evacuated.
There has been more flooding in Wairoa after further heavy rain. Photo: Wairoa District Council / Screenshot
Wairoa District Mayor Craig Little says while its rivers levels are stable, some residential roads are covered in water.
He said some areas got more than 170 millimetres of rain last night, adding to the downpours the district has already had and the further rain "is just causing havoc".
"Our concern first time around was that river flooding and flooding out our main street of the town.
"This second lot the river's well down but it's just surface flooding now that needs just to have a time to get down, to be drained and that back to the river."
The ground was waterlogged from days of rain, leading to surface flooding and some self evacuations, he said.
There was a "huge" amount of damage on farms and 20 local roads had been blocked off.
Meanwhile, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence's Dave Wilson said no residents needed to be evacuated as rivers reached warning levels today.
Rivers would be monitored for the next 12 hours with more heavy rain forecast, he said.
The Wairoa District Council posted a video of flooding of Karaka and Kauri Streets in the Wairoa township.
Residents are also being urged to avoid all flood water, including puddles and rivers as they could be contaminated with sewage.
Both the Wairoa District Council and the Hawke's Bay District Health Board are continuing to monitor the situation, particularly as the heavy rain is forecast to continue.
A heavy rain watch is in place for Wairoa District and Gisborne from today through to this evening.
⚠ Heavy Rain Watch Updated ⚠
— MetService (@MetService) March 28, 2022
Gisborne and the Wairoa District are covered by a Heavy Rain Watch until 9pm this evening (Tuesday).
Peak rainfall rates of 10 to 15mm/h are forecast in the area.
Full details: https://t.co/qHyE5zySvx pic.twitter.com/mgw5MBpvxy
