Families shelter at the Haumoana School Hall, which has been set up as an evacuation centre. Photo: RNZ / Anusha Bradley
Families driven from their homes by the threat of flooding overnight say they are experiencing an awful sense of déjà vu, with the wild weather reminding them of the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Hawke's Bay settlement of Haumoana due to high seas and about 140 properties have been evacuated.
Local woman Amanda Yung told Nine to Noon her family was woken up at 4am by police knocking on their door, warning them to leave.
The torrential rain and gales "felt like Gabrielle", she said.
They had only just repaired the damage done to the property by the cyclone in February 2023.
"We have just finished our house and had it fixed up with new carpets, so I was just like 'Oh no, not again'."
Yung said high tide had now passed, so as long as the pump stations continued to do their job, she was hopeful the worst was over.
Her husband, Paul Mayo, said the streets leading from the beach were covered in shingle and debris.
"The sea has breached the seawall, it's coming over the odd big wave, there's quite a lot of water coming over, which means it floods into our parks and potential backfill into our streets and that's when the trouble starts."
However, the pumps - which were upgraded after Cyclone Gabrielle - appeared to be working.
Flooding in Tolaga Bay. Photo: Facebook / Uawa Civil Defence - Tolaga Bay East Coast
Most people evacuated overnight, Mayo said.
"But they're drifting back now the sun is up. It was pretty scary overnight when you couldn't really see anything."
Tim Whittaker and his family only moved to their new home in Haumoana three weeks ago.
"At 3am we got a knock on the door from two police officers and were asked to self-evacuate because they were expecting heavy seas and didn't know what the river was going to do. So we all trooped down to the Haumoana School hall, where we were given a sleeping bag and a gym mat."
His family and their dog had since decamped to a friend's house for now.
"It was getting a bit claustrophobic in the hall."
Whittaker checked his property on Wednesday morning and it appeared untouched. It did not flood during Cyclone Gabrielle either, so "we're hoping it won't happen this time", he said.
The waves were still crashing over the shingle dunes but the biggest risk now was from storm water coming down the Tukituki River, he said.
"The water is very close under the bridge over the Tukituki River, but they've got multiple pumps amd a generator so it looks well under control. I counted seven regional council vehicles down there.
"Unfortuntately the river cams and sensors seem to have stopped working so we can't monitor it from where we are, but we're just hoping for the best."
Hastings District Council Mayor Sandra Hazelhurst said the council was advising people against returning to their properties for the time being "as a precaution".
"We've had a couple of homes with water through them in the low-lying areas but people have evacuated and gone to friends or family in town.
"We had about 30 through the Haumoana School hall."
Teams from Fire and Emergency, Police, Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Hastings District Council, Civil Defence, and three waters and roading contractors had been working through the night, she said.
Extra auxiliary pumps had been operating since Tuesday night, since the permanent pumps to control lagoon levels were not coping with the level of inundation.
Over eighty people evacuated in Te Karaka
Meanwhile, in Te Karaka, about 30km northwest of Gisborne, about 80 people were sheltering at the school after evacuating their homes overnight.
A further 80 or 90 had evacuated to Gisborne, Pimia Wehi from the iwi response team told Morning Report.
The team had been on the ground since 9.30pm and began doorknocking vulnerable people and kaumātua around 2.30am, urging them to evacuate.
They were being looked after at the school - which had electricity again after power cuts throughout Tuesday night - and had enjoyed a hot breakfast, Wehi said.
"They're just making themselves comfortable in our school at the moment."
More rain was forecast throughout Wednesday and Thursday and the rising waters meant there was no way out of the township, Wehi said.
"We've been fully cut off from getting out of Te Karaka - both of our entrances to the township have now been closed, been blocked due to flooding."
The iwi response team would shortly be out and about to ascertain the full extent of the damage, she said.