Heavy rain continues to flood parts of the North Island

The east of the North Island is facing another morning of heavy rain in the wake of ex-cyclone Lola.

An orange heavy rain warning is in force for Tai Rāwhiti/Gisborne until 9pm Tuesday.

Heavy rain watches are in place for Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and the Hawke's Bay ranges.

MetService meteorologist John Law said northern parts of Tai Rāwhiti had been hit by 164mm of rain in the past 36 hours, and Kaikohe in Northland had experienced 170mm.

More than 50mm of rain fell on the Coromandel Ranges overnight.

MetService warned of a moderate risk of thunderstorms this afternoon for the central North Island, and inland parts of the South Island from Canterbury High Country north.

Large, slow-moving bands of rain were sitting over parts of Northland, Coromandel, Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke's Bay, Law said.

"Particularly in those areas in the ranges in the east, we are going to find some thunderstorms springing up this afternoon, so some pretty intense bursts of rain there as well.

"Rain on top of rain is always one to watch out for, but things are slowly improving.

"We've got some drier weather coming across parts of New Zealand as we go through into tomorrow, especially for Northland and Auckland, but there will be more showery weather out towards the east."

Power cuts and road closures

PowerCo's website showed 280 properties had lost electricity in Coromandel and Tauranga regions, with numbers growing more than 100 in the past few hours.

More than 50 properties in Gisborne had power cuts.

On 29 October, thousands of homes were left without electricity in Northland and the Far North, after heavy rain and strong winds.

Heavy rainfall has swamped several local roads and state highways in Tai Rāwhiti, Coromandel, and Northland.

Waka Kotahi journey manager Liam Ryan said on Coromandel Peninsula, State Highway 25 was closed in both directions at the intersection of Hikuai Settlement Rd, due to the Tairua River flooding .

The weather had caused less damage on roads than expected, but drivers should be aware of speed limit reductions on roads covered in water, Ryan said.

Last night, a tree fell and became tangled in power lines on State Highway 35 on the East Coast, but the road opened again at about 9am Tuesday.

Gisborne 'very fragile'

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz said much of the region's infrastructure had zero resilience left after repeated heavy rainfall this year.

"Last night, we did have reports of surface flooding and some power poles down and some trees on the road, which it's great to hear that Waka Kotahi has cleared that."

The council would be monitoring surface water on roads today.

"State 35 is of concern, but also State Highway 2, also our local roads... our infrastructure is so very fragile and any amount of water just adds to the problem.

"Please drive to the conditions - it's very wet out there and it's going to stay like this for most of the day."

Last month, a landslide closed Tiniroto Road, between Rockill Road and Parikanapa Road.

"We will be closely watching landslides," Stoltz said.

"This is not what we need, we desperately need a break. We need a great, sunny Tai Rāwhiti summer to lift the Gisborne spirits."

Coromandel could face road closures on both sides

State Highway 25 is likely to close between Whangamata and Whitianga today, Thames Coromandel civil defence controller Garry Towler said.

Between Thames and Coromandel, State Highway 25 has already been closed at Hikuai.

On Monday, heavy rain, gale force easterlies and king high tides swamped numerous roads - closing parts of State Highway 25 at Manaia, Hikuai and just north of Whitianga.

A conserve water notice was issued for Coromandel town, Matatoki, Puriri and Omahu, because of turbidity in streams drinking water is taken from.

The Thames-Coromandel council said it would have water tankers in Coromandel town and Puriri for residents to utilise.

"Our reservoirs are taking longer to replenish, due to the fact the water has to be filtered a few times," Towler said.

By tonight, he expected about 450mm of rain would have inundated the region.

"There are no evacuations - people are very resilient at looking after themselves, but we're just saying hunker down again for the day, avoid travel if you can, because it is going to be problematic.

"Just ride this thing out and hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow."

A slip at Ruamahunga Bay could close that part of Thames Coast Road or leave it reduced to one lane, Towler said.

"We're into day three of this rain event and we have possible road closures imminent on both sides of Coromandel, on the Ruamahunga area, which is State Highway 25 on the Thames Coast Road, we've just had a slip come down there.

"On the other side, at Hikuai, it's the usual flooding area - that flooding never subsided overnight."

Thames-Coromandel District Council said that rubbish collection has been postponed.

Hauraki District Council also cancelled kerbside collections on Tuesday due to high winds.

MetService warnings

An orange warning for heavy rain is in force for Tai Rāwhiti/Gisborne until 9pm Tuesday. The forecast was for 70 to 90mm of rain, with thunderstorms possible Tuesday afternoon and early evening, bringing peak rainfall rates of 15 to 25mm/h.

A heavy rain watch was in place for Coromandel Peninsula until 8pm, with peak rainfall rates of 10 to 20mm/h expected.

For Bay of Plenty west of Matata including Rotorua, a heavy rain watch was in place until 8pm Tuesday, with peak rainfall rates of 10 to 20mm/h expected.

The ranges of Hawke's Bay south of State Highway 5 were under a heavy rain watch until 9pm, with peak rates of 15 to 25mm/h expected Tuesday afternoon and early evening in possible thunderstorms.

A heavy rain watch for Northland has been lifted.