No let up – more pain for Coromandel as red weather warning looms

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After 1.3m of rainfall in a month and seemingly more slips and closed roads than officials can count, Coromandel was bracing for perhaps its biggest test yet on Wednesday.

A Red Warning was active for the embattled peninsula with 100-150mm of rain and severe thunderstorms between 10 pm on Tuesday to 3 pm on Wednesday.

Swells of up to 4m were also expected, but it was the increasingly saturated and unstable red and rocky soil that was the issue, said Thames-Coromandel Civil Defence controller Garry Towler, with numerous slips coming down “all the time”.

“In the last six hours (to Tuesday 2pm), we have had six to seven slips coming down.

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Inspections at the summit of State Highway 25A (SH25A) on Monday show the remainder of the road has collapsed into the gully, as a result of heavy rain which continues to fall in the Coromandel region. (Image supplied by Waka Kotahi)

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Inspections at the summit of State Highway 25A (SH25A) on Monday show the remainder of the road has collapsed into the gully, as a result of heavy rain which continues to fall in the Coromandel region. (Image supplied by Waka Kotahi)

“It is inevitable that with so much rain, these things are going to happen.

Apart from possible slips, surface flooding would impact roading networks and Towler was confident the state highways, which had seen days of sporadic closures, would be compromised on Wednesday morning.

“Some communities may be isolated for short periods of time until those slips are cleared.”

The heaviest time period for rain was expected between 11pm and 2am on Wednesday morning.

The Civil Defence crew were focused on possible land stabilisation issues and sending the messaging out ot the communities ahead of a wet night.

“We have about 30 communities around Coromandel and possibly half of them have residences on the vulnerable areas.

Towler said the roading crews were active and well-resourced to manage any closures, should they occur.

“We are strongly advising everyone to avoid travel unless it is absolutely essential until this latest event has passed and our roading crews can get the highways reopened in a safe condition, hopefully by the long weekend.”

A helicopter flight around the Coromandel on Tuesday showed no obvious sign of any imminent major land slips but authorities are taking a cautious approach.

The flight took in Kōpu to the summit of the SH25A road between there and Hikuai, and various catchments in the south-west of the peninsula, Waikato Regional Council resilience team leader Rick Liefting said.

“The good news is that, from what we our experts can see, there [were] no significant impacts or signs of impending large landslips.”

However, that didn’t preclude the possibility they may occur in that area or other parts of the Coromandel, now or in future, he said.

It’s hoped to do another, more extensive flight when the weather clears after heavy rains forecast over Wednesday.

“The big thing as well is while we may get through this next event we’re still not in the clear. There is likely to be further events further down the track.

“The unprecedented rain that we’ve had on the Coromandel; is a real concern and we’re in…uncharted territory as around what those impacts might be in the near future but also with other possible events in future.”

Particular areas of future inspection focus will be the steep area above Tairua and around Whitanga.

In assessing risk, the council will also use remote sensing, such as satellite imagery, and GNS advice about landslide susceptibility, Liefting said.

SH25A on the Coromandel on Saturday as cracks grew following heavy rain.

Waka Kotahi

SH25A on the Coromandel on Saturday as cracks grew following heavy rain.

People should be prepared for possibly being cut off or usual transport being impaired under the red weather warning, Metservice meterologist April Clark said.

Clark said the weather should start easing around late afternoon on Wednesday.

Auckland, North Auckland, and Northland, where a State of Emergency was declared on Tuesday, were also under the Red Warning.

For the rest of Waikato, Wednesday looked a bit wet with heavy falls at time, easing around late afternoon.

Clark said the subtropical air coming in through the northeasterlies caused heavy rain.

“The downpours with thunderstorms embedded in it are adding an extra element to watch out for.

“The northeasterlies in really humid air are helping to fuel all the heavy rainfall and is sticking around for the time being.”

The country will receive on and off rain throughout the rest of the working week, while Waitangi weekend looked drier, she said.

Coromandel Peninsula was completely isolated on Saturday following flooding and another big road closure involving the Thames Coast Rd (SH25).

The main road to the eastern side of the Coromandel, SH25A suffered a complete collapse, with no timeframe for repairs yet clear.

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