Dozens evacuated in Wairoa overnight after river banks burst

Dozens of residents in the town of Wairoa have been evacuated overnight after the river burst its banks.

A state of emergency was declared last night with an Orange heavy rain warning in place in the area. People in low lying or flood prone areas were told to leave if they felt unsafe as high tide was expected to cause problems at about midnight.

An evacuation centre is open at the Wairoa War Memorial Hall and about 40 people are there. The council said it was out at first light assessing the damage to properties.

Mayor Craig Little told RNZ the flooding is down Kopu Road and seems similar to the June 2024 flood, but possibly not as bad.

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"Unfortunately some houses have had some water and I'm not sure how many, we'll have a better idea today.

"It'll be the lower lying ones... some people sent me pictures of their homes and they're quite inundated with water inside," he said.

"This is a particularly bitter pill to swallow as it is just two years after the June 2024 river mouth flooding and many of those families who have only just been able to get back in their homes have been flooded again.

"It is early stages and we are still gathering information."

On Thursday night, residents in the Kopu Road and side street vicinity were evacuated, with around 50 registered evacuees spending the night in the War Memorial Hall, which has been set up as an evacuation centre, or in other accommodation.

Wairoa District Council and Civil Defence are still assessing the extent of flooding, but say there's been damage to some homes, low lying garages and out buildings.

Civil Defence has been evacuating people through the night, and Craig Little said they began getting people out before the state of emergency was declared.

"We just had consistent rain over a big area for quite some time.. It was coming in about 50 millimetres every 15 minutes..

"We thought well high tide is about 12:30pm to 12:40pm and that wasn't going to look good," he said.

However, he said it's been hard to evacuate some people.

"A lot of people didn't want to leave their homes because they are scared all their possessions.. so some people tried to stay in their homes for the night. We'll have a better idea of numbers shortly."

On Friday, more than 600 homes were without power in the east of the North Island after heavy rain in the area.

State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa as well as nearby State Highway 58 north of Wairoa between Frasertown and Tuai are both closed.

Further north State Highway 2 connecting Gisborne city and Opotiki is shut between Te Karaka (Cliff Road) and Whatatutu Road.

'This really can't be happening'

Diane Downey lives on Kopu Road in Wairoa and fled her property at about 10pm on Thursday evening.

"When I looked outside towards the driveway there was a sudden surge of water coming up the drive so I thought 'no we are going'. I grabbed the cat, grabbed my bag - threw them in the vehicle and headed up the hill to the neighbours," she said.

Diane's been able to see some of the damage on her security cameras, but hasn't been able to get back to the property yet.

"There are drums, there are containers and wood and things all pushed around the place.. the drains were at capacity and overflowing when I did leave so who knows."

Diane's home and limery business was badly flooded in 2024, and she'd finally gotten everything back on track but is worried the flood has ruined it all over again.

"I'm just praying.. this can't be happening... this really can't be happening,"

Marie Tuahine, who's Wairoa home needed to be completely rebuilt after being damaged by flood waters in 2024, evacuated to her daugher's last night.

She will be heading home soon this morning to assess the damage.

Ms Tuahine says while she hopes the water didn't get into her house, she expects her shed will have been completely flooded out.

She said locals believe that over time the river that runs past the town is getting wider and shallower and is starting to overflow in just about every downpour they have.

They want it to be dredged more regularly and mayor Craig Little said the river bar, which has caused problems in the past, was open this time.

"They did open the other river mouth a day or so ago, that didn't appear to be working so good but it's one of those things, that's the nature of the beast.

"It's really disappointing to be honest," he said.

Wairoa resident Tessa Peka told RNZ she raced to get her 6 and 9-year-old out of their flooding property last night. She left her Kihitu home for supplies at about 6pm, and returned 15-minutes later to the road flooding over.

"I got put in a position like fight or flight mode cause I've got my two children and the water was surrounding us."

She said she ran inside, grabbing two blankets and whatever else she could find, and told her kids to get their gumboots on.

She said this was the third time her small community, with Taihoa Marae and a family cemetery, has been significantly flooded.

In her Sadan car, Peka said she drove slowly through the floodwaters, which were coming halfway up her door.

"Is it quite scary being in a situation like that where water is surrounding you."

The family stayed at the Wairoa War Memorial Hall, where dozens of others also evacuated too.

Peka doesn't know what will come today, and she is yet to see the state of her home.

Storm will finish in Gisborne

Metservice said the last five-day-long storm that's moved up the country will finish in Gisborne over the weekend.

Meteorologist Katie Lyons said the weather is easing as it makes it way to Gisborne.

"Its all just been with the same system and its slow to leave the country."

Katie Lyons said the Hawke's Bay ranges saw about sixty millilitres of rainfall last night, flooding the Wairoa River.

Wairoa itself, saw just 20 millitres of rain between 8pm and 8am.

"Which isn't a huge amount, but we know that a lot of their issues stem from the river."

She said an extremely gradual ease will make its way to Gisborne, which will not see the same effects of that in Otago where the weather hit first.

Gisborne Tairawhiti Mayor Rehette Stoltz says the region appears to have dodged a bullet after a huge dousing of rain.

She says rising rivers had civil defence stood up on high alert overnight.

Ms Stoltz says they were ready to start to evacuate residents if the rivers rose any higher, but the rain eased.

She says there is lots of surface flooding and some damage from high winds in the area.

But the main issue is power outages, with her own home also without electricity.

About 200 hundred properties are without power in Gisborne, and about 350 further south in Wairoa.

Ms Stoltz says if people see landslides or anything hazardous they should contact the Gisborne District Council.

She suggests people take advantage of the Matariki public holiday and stay home today, while the cleanup is underway.