Weather Update: Saturday, June 24

**Update Saturday June 24 - 1.30pm**

Severe Weather Update

Good afternoon, it’s still pretty miserable out there and the orange heavy rain warning remains in place until 7pm tonight. Based on the current forecast, we are not expecting any major issues or impacts on river levels and flood protection networks. Substantial work has been completed by HBRC contractors to wrap and protect recent stopbank repairs.

Central Hawke’s Bay District Council continues to actively monitor the situation and respond as required along with emergency services and key staff across the district.

The two main rivers (Waipawa and Waipukurau) reached the bottom of the stopbanks as forecast and have since receded, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council have teams out inspecting repair works following Cyclone Gabrielle. Overall the rivers will remain high, but the Waipawa has dropped back a bit and all rivers are still significantly below Cyclone Gabrielle flow levels. Rivers are forecast to drop further over the next 48 hours.

Boil water notice
A boil water notice remains in place for Waipukurau due to reduced water clarity as a result of flooding in the Tukituki river. Unfortunately, we expect it to remain in place until at least Friday next week. There are water tankers at Russell Park (next to the Scout Hall) and one will be placed at Racecourse Road (opposite GM Panel Beaters). These will remain in place until the boil water notice is removed. The water quality will be checked regularly. Please remember to bring your own containers when you fill up. We understand that this is inconvenient and thank our wonderful communities for your support and patience. Bottled water has been made available to rest homes and health care centres. Residents can also make their tap water safe to drink by bringing this to a rolling boil for 2 minutes.

Waipawa please continue to conserve water
The persistent rain is putting pressure on our treatment plant. We are asking Waipawa and Otane residents to continue to limit their water use. While it remains safe to drink in your area, due to increasing turbidity (reduced clarity), we may need to apply a boil water notice. Please consider water storage options (containers to hold drinking water) and add this to your emergency preparations.

Roading
As you have probably seen or read there is a dropout at the SH50 bridge over the Waipawa River and the road currently CLOSED between Tikokino Rd and Bridge St following a washout. Road users are asked to use SH2 as a detour. Waka Kotahi geotechnical engineers are assessing the site today and we will share an update as soon as we can. This is a significant drop out that has completely taken the road approach and is likely to see SH50 closed for some time. Again we will keep you posted with any updates.

Since our last update on the local road network:

• Farm Road 400m from Middleton Road is now open with the tree cleared from the road. The rest of the material next to the road needs to be removed.
• We are advising caution on Mill Road at 8.9km from Makaretu Road - Slip, single lane open.

Please continue to drive carefully out there and drive to the conditions. Slow down, especially if you’re in a high-sided vehicle or on a motorcycle.
If you have to travel:

• Head to our website for the latest road closures and road conditions on our local roads: https://www.chbdc.govt.nz/services/roads-and-streets-land-transport/roads-streets-and-weather-event-information/.
• Head to NZTA for state highway information: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/

Some great reminders from the team at Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management:
1. Put safety first. Don’t take any chances. Act quickly if you see rising water.
2. If you feel you, your family and/or your property are at risk, immediately contact emergency services on 111.
3. Never try to walk, swim or drive through flood water.
4. If you’re feeling unsafe, and feel you need to leave your property, friends and whānau/family may be able to help.
5. You can check out tips to get ready before, during and after severe weather at: https://getready.govt.nz/en/emergency/storms/
6. If you're feeling scared or anxious, you don’t have to go through this on your own. If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out and free call or text 1737, or call Lifeline Aotearoa on 0800 543 354.

We will remain closely monitoring the situation throughout the day and overnight. At this stage, we are not anticipating any need to evacuate, but as above if you’re feeling unsafe please follow the advice.

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**Update Saturday June 24 - 9.45am**

Another soggy morning for us all. Our teams have been out delivering boil water notices to Waipukurau this morning and inspecting the roads.
In addition to State Highway 50 closure between Tikokino and Ongaonga, a number of our local roads are impacted by surface flooding. Here’s an update on our local roads:

RECENTLY CLOSED
Farm Road: 400m from Middleton Road there is a tree down blocking the road. Our crew are working to clear the site.

The following roads remain closed due to flooding:
- Gwavas Road is closed at Wilsons Temporary Access Bridge 6km from SH 50. Currently access to the north end of Gwavas Road is through Salisbury Road in Hastings.
- Herrick Street Ongaonga is closed at Taylors/Mackies Slab.
- Hiranui Road.
- Wakarara Road is closed at Douglas Cutting Bridge.
- Wharetoka Road 0.8km from Butler Road.

We advise CAUTION across all roads but in particular note the following local roads:
- Burnside Road at approx. 6.3 to 7.1 km from SH2 end due to surface flooding.
- Braeview Road at 0.75km from Ngahape Road – down to single lane
- Bush Road at 9.6km from Porangahau Road with surface flooding
- Eastwood Road at 2.5km from Makaretu Road due to surface water flooding, 4x4 only.
- Elsthorpe Road at 18.6km from Otane – surface flooding.
- Paget Road at approx. 15.25 from SH50 road has scoured out at culvert. (Near Snee Road)
- Speedy Road at 4.3km from SH2 – surface flooding
- Tourere Road at 4.9km from Ngahape Road.
- The Brow Road at 1.48km from Tikokino Road – surface flooding
- Tukituki Road at 10.6km from SH50 previously closed due to a fallen tree. It has reopened to one lane.

Please stay up to date with the latest forecasts and conditions at: https://www.metservice.com/national

• Keep an eye on the Centralines website for power outages across the district: https://www.centralines.co.nz/
• Find a list of road closures throughout CHB here: https://bit.ly/3P7lnwT
• For SH updates visit https://www.nzta.govt.nz/
• Report issues with our roading network by calling 06 857 8060 (24 hour service).
• For issues with the State Highway, Please call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49).

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**Update Saturday 24 June - 6.45am**

Morena Central Hawke's Bay!
Thankfully, the rain we received overnight was less than forecast, and we have not yet had any reports of major changes to our local roading netowrks. The SH50 is currently closed due to a washout on the bridge between Ongaonga and Tikokino over the Waipawa river. we'll keep you posted as any updates come to hand.
There is now a Boil Water Notice in place for Waipukurau, following the heavy rain impacting the quality of our drinking water. This means you are going to need to collect bottled water and water for household activities like drinking, cooking and washing or boil your water on a rolling boil.
Water tankers will be situated at Russell Park (next to the Scout Hall) in Waipukurau from 8am Saturday 24 June. The tankers will be replaced when empty, however there may be a short delay between the tanker being emptied and replaced.
A ‘rolling boil’ means to boil all tap water for at least two minutes. If using for a hot drink it may be used immediately, otherwise allow it to cool.
Our teams are out inspecting the roads at the moment. There is surface flooding on State Highway 50 around the Waipawa Bridge. Please drive carefully out there. State Highway information is available here: https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/highway-conditions/
We'll keep you posted with any other updates as they come to hand. Remember you can report any issues 24/7 on 06 857 8060.
Here are a list of useful links:

• For further information on our roads visit - https://tinyurl.com/5t34r78m
• Weather updates: https://www.metservice.com/national
• Get Ready, Get Through: https://getready.govt.nz/en/prepared/household/
• Power Outages: https://www.centralines.co.nz/
• Rainfall Data: https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/environment/rainfall/
• River Level Data: https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/environment/river-levels/
• State Highways: https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/highway-conditions/

Kia kaha Central Hawke's Bay!

25 June 2023

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