In April more than 40 roads were closed in the wider Tairāwhiti region because of slips and flooding. And authorities say more bad weather is on its way. Photo: Tairāwhiti Civil Defence
Forecast heavy rain could dramatically worsen already storm-damaged roads, with a weather warning issued for the Hawke's Bay from tonight.
MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for 8pm tonight till 1pm Friday for all of Hawke's Bay.
In a warning from the district council, people in remote areas of Central Hawke's Bay were being warned to stock up and be prepared in case they get cut off by the bad weather.
MetService said the heavy rain expected for the wider Hawke's Bay could cause slips, surface flooding, sudden rises in streams and rivers, and hazardous driving conditions.
"Expect 80 to 100 mm of rain to accumulate about the ranges, and 40 to 70 mm about the coast. Peak rates of 10 to 15 mmh about the ranges," MetService said.
Starting earlier than the heavy rain warning, the forecaster also issued a heavy rain watch for Gisborne and "about the ranges north of Tolaga Bay", warning of periods of heavy rain from 3pm today.
Hastings District Council posted a message to residents to that the rain "could cause a variety of issues, from slips and surface flooding on roads, to risky conditions in our parks and reserves and an increase of flows in our stormwater and wastewater systems.
Council staff were keeping a close eye on the situation, it said.
The latest weather warnings followed a bad year for infrastructure from storms for the region.
Storms in April closed more than 40 roads in the wider Hawke's Bay region because of flooding and slips.
More recent heavy rain resulted in 35 major slips in the Central Hawke's Bay District alone, the council said.
It estimated the damage already done could be as much as $33m, as it judged it to likely be three times worse than that left by bad weather in 2011 that had resulted in more than $11 million dollars of damage to the district's roads.
The council has warned it would take some time to fully repair. The roads were in the worst condition they had been in decades, Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker said.
Earlier this month, Wairoa District Council posted that it had received an emergency works grant of nearly $26m to pay for 95 percent of the cost to repair "devastating" weather damage to the road network caused in the March and April storms.
Wairoa District Council mayor Craig Little said that meant about another $1.35m to be covered by the district.
Starting from this month, Waka Kotahi plans to reseal or rebuild more than 10 percent of the country's highways, between September 2022 and April 2023, with major work planned for many regions, including Hawke's bay.
Waka Kotahi national operations manager Neil Walker said the particularly heavy rain in the winter meant the job was particularly big.