Storm damage, Kōpaki Road, Waitomo
Waitomo District Council was on the verge of declaring a state of emergency on Tuesday as heavy rain pummelled the district and brought flash floods and slips.
Gary McGoughan
The Civil Defence team in Ōtorohanga advised those living in low-lying areas to self-evacuate to friends and family.
Te Kūiti’s sewage system popping the manhole cover in Gary McGoughan’s Ngatai Street garden, flooding it with sewage for the fifth time in a couple of years.
“It’s the same as before,” he said.
Piopio Playcentre was evacuated after flooding and, on Wednesday morning Piopio Primary School and Piopio College were closed due to the flooding of access roads.
Slips and flooding closed State Highway 3 between Mōkau and Piopio, State Highway 4 between State Highways 3 and 43 and State Highway 30 between Te Kūiti and Maniaiti/Benneydale.
“We are getting long periods of pretty high rainfall like we haven’t had before,” said Waitomo mayor John Robertson.
In the Ōtorohanga district, State Highway 31 out of Kāwhia was temporarily cut off with multiple road closures.
