‘Relentless rain’ causes severe surface flooding, evacuations in Gisborne

Relentless rain that was briefly more intense than during Cyclone Gabrielle has caused severe surface flooding in Mangapapa, Gisborne, forcing families to leave their homes, according to the city’s mayor.

“The rain woke, I’m sure, everyone in Gisborne up at 3am. It was rain like we’ve never heard before … it’s absolutely pouring,” Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz told RNZ.

She said the “relentless” rainfall hitting Gisborne overnight and on Tuesday morning was more intense than what the region saw during Cyclone Gabrielle

In one hour, between 3am and 4am, the MetService rain gauge at Gisborne airport recorded 23.4mm of rain.

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Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said in a social media update that the rain had caused drains to flood and creeks to rise to about 2 metres and there was “severe surface flooding” for the whole suburb.

Gisborne District Council confirmed that 15 families left their home to stay with families and friends.

Council spokesperson Melanie Thornton said the water was beginning to recede.

“Multiple crews are out on the ground exploring where any blocked drains or culverts might be so we’re just trying to figure out what might be causing all that flooding to happen.

“We’ve had so much water, the water table is quite high already. We’ve had so much rain and it’s just added to that.”

She said people should stay home if they can and out of floodwaters.

“There is danger even when the water is shallow,” she said.

Mangapapa residents on Justin St woke up to high levels of water in front of their homes and on the road. Around 4am the water had breached a nearby culvert and crossed into the street, a resident said.

Civil Defence said in its update that as a result of the flooding, a number of families had been evacuated or left their Mangapapa homes of their own accord.

The House of Breakthrough church was set up as an evacuation centre early on Tuesday morning, no-one came to stay, church member Karen Nubley said.

She expects some people may still come by the church on Tuesday with more heavy rain forecast for Gisborne.

“We’ve got an amazing first response here,” said Nubley.

Rural home driveways and culverts were inundated on Nelson Rd, and in some parts one lane was entirely flooded.

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Nelson Rd resident Sharon Swart has been watching the water rise around her house. It hasn’t quite breached the inside yet.

Because the ground never dried from the last rain, this time the flooding is more severe, she said.

“It wasn’t this bad last time, the water didn’t get as high.”

The ground was swampy and mushy, she said, standing in water up to her calves on her lawn.

So far no one had been to check on them, but she hadn’t reported the flooding yet either.

Margaret Pohe’s home on the corner of Glenelg Rd fared fine overnight under the deluge but once the rain stopped around 9am, her lawn turned into a moat.

There were about 15 centimetres of water all over her large section, and sandbags lining the doorways. But the flooding around her house actually got worse after the rain had stopped.

When she came out around 7am there was no moat, but by 8:30 as it stopped raining, her entire lawn was water.

“The ground can’t take it. It can’t take any more,” Pohe said.

During Cyclone Gabrielle, Pohe’s daughter Stephanie Tibble came to get her out. The flat at the back of the house was flooded and a lot of belongings and furnishings were lost.

The area is forecast to see further rain on Tuesday, with MetService extending a heavy rain warning about and south of Gisborne City from 6am to 1pm.

The weather forecaster said the city would get a further 30 to 40 mm on top of what has already fallen, with peak intensities of 5 to 10 mm/h.

Further north, another 15 to 25 mm is expected to fall with hourly rainfall rates of up to 15 mm on higher ground.

Since midnight 40mm has been recorded there.

In Hawke’s Bay there have also been reports of surface flooding in parts of the region.

MetService has put the Wairoa District in the Hawke’s Bay under a heavy rain warning from 7am to 2pm on Tuesday.

A further 30 to 40 mm of rain is forecast to fall on top of what has already fallen, especially in the north of the District.

The weather forecaster said peak rainfall rates of 5 to 10 mm/h were likely while there was a possibility of 20 mm/h until 11am on Tuesday.

Rain is forecast to ease towards midday, turning to scattered showers this afternoon.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence has told people there to avoid driving through any floodwaters and to keep off the roads if possible.