‘Stream went from 10m wide to 500m’ – rising river levels hit Tararua

Rising river levels have cut off communities and closed roads, and a state of emergency has been declared in Tararua, as Cyclone Gabrielle lashes parts of the North Island.

River levels are being monitored in the wider Manawatū-Whanganui region as the cyclone causes havoc across the country, particularly on the east coast of the North Island.

A national state of emergency has been issued as houses are destroyed and regions cut off in the northern North Island, but bad weather is also affecting parts of the lower north.

Isolated surface flooding, road damage and closures, as well as possible property damage and powercuts were expected in Tararua. The worst weather is expected from 11pm on Monday to 3pm on Tuesday.

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A state of emergency was declared in Tararua by mayor Tracey Collis at 8.49am on Tuesday, where orange heavy rain and strong wind warnings had been issued.

The Ākitio, Wainui and Owahanga rivers were set to record some of the largest heights on record and serious flooding was expected.

At Herbertville, an isolated beach community east of Dannevirke, John Sedcole is the manager of the Herbertville Campground, which flooded when the Wainui River overflowed about 10.30am on Tuesday.

“We’re all underwater and we’ve got not power,” he told Stuff. “A lot of the baches in the campground have had water through them.”

The water had gone down from earlier in the morning, but he was concerned at more damage being done at high tide after midday and the river bank collapsing.

Water was over the road in several places and was too deep to get through. It was too early to assess the damage.

There are five permanent residents at the campground and two have moved to higher ground. The others’ cabins hadn’t been touched by the water.

“There are about six or eight permanent residents along the village itself and some of the houses have had water in them or very near it.”

But the locals were managing and hoped the water would recede quickly, he said.

Eric Gathercole is the owner of the nearby Wimbledon Tavern where there had been heavy rainfall.

“We got hammered [on Tuesday] morning with extensive flooding around the pub.”

Floodwaters had receded by midday, but there was still a lot of water around the building.

“The stream went from 10 metres wide to 500m wide.”

The power had gone out and they had lost fences due to the floodwaters.

Once the water had receded he would be able to assess the damage.

Sea swells forecast for coastal areas were expected to reach up to 7m, with Ākitio an area of concern. It is expected the Esplanade will be submerged and seawater will reach beach-front properties.

An Ākitio resident, who did not want to be named, said the rain had eased on Tuesday morning, but a couple of bridges in the settlement were underwater and high tide was at lunchtime.

He said Coast and Ākitio roads were cut off, but people were happy at home.

“Hopefully we’re over the worst of it.”

Further inland in Dannevirke, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua was running a support centre out of the Dannevirke Sports Centre.

Iwi chairman Hayden Hape said they would support anyone who needed help or was feeling anxious. They had food, water and other supplies, and had room for children to play.

Collis was also at the response centre. She said the district, which covers 427,000 hectares, had experienced a lot of ran, with coastal area such as Herbertville, Wimbledon, Pongaroa and Ākitio bearing the brunt of it.

On Monday council teams had visited coastal areas recommending residents self-evacuate due to rising river levels.

“[On Tuesday] morning we moved very, very quickly, those rivers are rising.”

The council had set up an emergency operations centre and was monitoring the cyclone’s movement.

The centre was planning for various scenarios with police, fire and emergency, St John and power companies.

One road to Ākitio was cut off and the other was for emergency access only, so the community was isolated.

But Collis said they had been in contact with the people there, as well as other coastal areas, and they were in good hands with other community members. About 16 people were evacuated to the Ākitio Community Centre.

There were about 300 power outages in the region.

Collis said they would look at opening up other centres if required. She advised people not to travel and call 111 if they needed help.

Another support centre could be required in the southern part of the district after there were reports of high winds and water at Makuiri, east of Pahīatua.

The Tararua District Council advised people to expect 120 to 180mm of rain about the ranges and eastern hills and 80 to 120mm in lower-lying areas, with peak rates of 10 to 15mm per hour, but 20 to 30mm per hour overnight about the ranges and eastern hills.

This was likely to cause slips, slumps and washouts on the roads and the council asked people to take care when driving.

Council staff were responding to the effects of heavy rain and strong winds.

The Ferry, Mangatainoka and Marina reserves were closed as a precaution due to their proximity to rivers.

Pongaroa School had closed.

An orange strong wind warning had also been issued for or Whanganui, Manawatū, and Horowhenua.

Horizons Regional Council and Palmerston North City Council are monitoring waterways in the district. Both councils are providing updates on their Facebook pages, as well as the Manawatū-Whanganui Civil Defence page.

The two councils have been working with a few residents to the east of the city to encourage them to have a plan in case they need to evacuate.

Close watch on rivers

Rainfall has led to significantly high river flows, with low-lying land in Pohangina affected.

Horizons Regional Council incident controller Craig Grant said sections of rural land and bridges at Pohangina were covered with water as a result of the significant rainfall.

“The extent of the overspill is a bit more than we expected this morning, but is not unusual with river flows as high as we are experiencing. It is also not unusual for water to be seen outside of the main river channel during significant weather events.

“The upper Pohangina River has peaked and is receding, while the lower section of the river is due to peak soon. The bulk of the forecasted rain has fallen and is making its way down all catchments.

“The Rangitīkei River is still modelled to peak at about 8 metres at Mangaweka, with floodwater coming down the river to peak at 6 metres at Bulls at 3.30pm and about 7pm at Tangimoana.

“While we are not anticipating any stopbank breach at Tangimoana, Manawatū District Council has advised residents there to be prepared to evacuate just in case.”

The council told rural property owners in Pohangina and Rangitīkei on Monday night about the need to move stock from low-lying land alongside the rivers.

Grant said in Tararua, the Ākitio, Wainui and Owahanga rivers were set to record some of the largest heights on record. Affected people ad been asked to evacuate.

“Serious flooding is expected from the Ākitio, Wainui and Owahanga rivers, which are forecast to keep rising. People should take care on roads and watch out for flooding.”

Grant said the height of the Ōroua River has resulted in some low-lying land being covered in water.

“The Ōroua River is likely to peak at 4.7m at Almadale (near Cheltenham) [on Tuesday] afternoon, with staff onsite at the gap in the stopbanks near Te Arakura Road downstream of Feilding.

“Models for the Manawatū River have been updated, with the risk to property near Te Matai Rd, where Horizons was doing work to protect the stopbank from erosion, lower than forecast yesterday.

“We continue to work with Palmerston North City Council to keep residents in the area informed, but at this stage they are unlikely to be impacted by any flooding.

“Makino floodgates are not required to operate at this stage, but an operation of the Moutoa floodgates (between Foxton and Shannon) is still planned for Tuesday evening.

“Horizons is keeping in close contact with its city and district councils and will remain so through the day.”

Up-to-date information on river heights and rainfall is available via Horizons 24-hour toll-free Waterline 0508 4 FLOOD or via the Horizons website.

Horizons has been doing work on the stopbank at Te Matai Rd to protect it from erosion. The work is not yet complete, which means there is a small risk a few homes could experience flooding if the Manawatū River rises significantly following rainfall forecasted for the upper catchment.

While it is anticipated the river will remain in its channel, neighbouring properties may experience some surface flooding and potentially require evacuation if the river breaches the stopbank.

City council representatives asked the residents on Monday night to prepare a plan in case they need to evacuate. Housing assistance has also been offered.

Only residents who were at risk in this specific area have been contacted. There is no added risk to any other properties along the river. People who were not contacted were not expected to be affected.

Roads closed, power out

The Manawatū District Council said in a statement the peak height of the Rangitīkei River at Mangaweka Bridge was expected to be at 11am on Tuesday.

As a precaution Tangimoana School was closed

Roads have also been closed: Hoihere Road from the corner of Lockwood Rd and Main Drain Rd, Coulter Line bridge near Kiwitea, Raumai Reserve Bridge from Pohangina Rd to the intersection of Pohangina Valley East Rd and Churchill Rd. Churchill Rd Bridge from Pohangina Rd to Pohangina Valley East Rd.

The Londons Ford, Bartletts Ford, Almadale Reserve and Vinegar Hill campgrounds have been closed.

Several bridges were also washed out or damaged: Churchill Rd Bridge, Konewa Bridge, Diggers Creek Bridge, Makiekie/Cole Creek Bridge and Raumai Bridge.

Shortly before 12pm on Tuesday, Waka Kotahi announce the closure of Saddle Rd, between Ashhurst and Woodville, due to flooding. Motorists were asked to avoid the area or delay their journey if possible.

Lines company Powerco reported 619 customers in Manawatū were without power at 11.30am on Tuesday, as well as 856 in Wairarapa and 380 in Whanganui.

Field crews were out working to reconnect affected customers. As at 11.30am 66,000 Powerco customers had been affected across New Zealand.

Most of the outages were caused by high winds and trees bringing down lines. Reconnection efforts were hampered on Monday by the severe weather.

The Desert Rd, State Highway 1, from Rangipo to Waiouru, was closed due to fallen trees and the Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency was going to reassess the highway at 7am.

Waka Kotahi’s journey planner and the MetService website were providing updates.