Heavy deluge turns Hawke's Bay valley into an 'ocean'

A heavy deluge in the early hours of Tuesday morning caught Central Hawke's Bay residents by surprise, flooding roads and buildings, downing trees and turning a valley into an 'ocean'.

The Hawke's Bay Region south of Tutira was under an orange heavy rain warning until 3am on Wednesday, and several rural roads were closed due to floodwaters and debris.

The area was hit hard by wild weather overnight, particularly in Omakere and Elsthorpe, and along the coast. A number of roads were closed including Farm Rd, Pourerere Rd, Elsthorpe Rd and Herrick St.

Omakere resident Sarah Kingston said the rain overnight was "incredible", waking her up just after 1am.

"It was a deluge, it was like someone turned a fire hydrant on - I thought 'far out'.

"It just kept coming and coming, it was the sort of rain you thought 'Oh it's going to ease off, it has to' - but it didn't."

When dawn broke, Kingston looked out her window and couldn't believe how far the water stretched across farmland.

"We're on a hill and get the most stupendous views of the countryside... and it's just an ocean - not a lake - an ocean.

"Thank god we took the stock off the flat paddocks last night, which we weren't going to do as no one warned us... we only took them off because we thought 'oh you never know, it could be a bit rough'."

The deluge flooded Omakere Hall, with water several feet deep around it and across the road - resulting in Omakere School closing its doors for the day.

Principal Sue Taylor said the school was up on high ground, but the farm opposite the school was underwater.

"That's completely covered in water, all of the flats are today. The road from school to Pourere Beach is flooed across, and the hall between school and town is covered as well.

"We had 120mls last night just from 1am to 6.30am... that's a lot of rain in a short space of time, and they've had a lot of rain recently."

Taylor said it was too early to say whether Omakere School would reopen on Wednesday.

"We've got heavy rain again tonight and it will depend on what happens... we've got high tide at 8.30pm tonight so we'll monitor that."

Omakere resident Jeanie Butler said the volume of rain and amount of flooding at the Omakere Hall seemed similar to Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, but luckily the damage on farmland appeared to be less.

"We had a lot of slipping in Gabrielle... but so far there are no new fresh slips. But after another few hours of this that we are expecting, that could change.

"I can't see the whole road from the house, so it's quite high now... and it's still coming up," Butler said.

Central Hawke's Bay mayor Will Foley said the timing of the rain event was a bit unexpected.

"It just caught everyone out a bit by surprise, about three o'clock in the morning, I haven't spoken to anyone who didn't get woken up by the thunder, lightening and heavy rains."

Foley said it's unclear at this stage how many properties were flooded, but he's hoping it wasn't too many.

"Luckily it's not widespread, but there'll be some individuals impacted for sure.

"We are just keeping a watching brief... touch wood we are over the worst of it," he said.

However, some locals were pleased with the timing of this rain for growing grass heading into winter.

"Our farmers were still looking for more rain after the cyclone last weekend, so this will be welcome for the farming district as long as it doesn't get any worse," said Foley.

The council was urging people to drive carefully and stay away from low lying coastal areas like beaches and river mouths.

Herbertville preparing to evcaute

Further south in Tararua, 70 millimetres of rain was recorded in just one hour last night near Akitio, which was now cut off due to slips on Coast Rd and River Rd.

Nearby, the coastal community of Herbertville had no power or cell coverage, and the Wainui river reached alert levels early on Tuesday - rising to more than 6.2 metres.

A heavy rain warning was in place for Tararua District until midnight, and Civil Defence said Herbertville was in contact with support agencies.

"The Wainui River flood alarm has been triggered, and Herbertville Campground is being prepared for potential evacuation.

"Ākitio is cut off due to a large slip which will take approx. 3-4 hours to clear. The village has power and cellphone coverage and is in contact with Taraua District Council."

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