March 24, 2022
Flooding and plague afflicts Tairāwhiti
Te Tairāwhiti is being stretched to the limit as a low pressure system continues to dump heavy rain on the region.
Tokomaru Bay was one of the worst hit areas, with up to 230mm of rain in a six-hour period earlier in the day, and then further heavy rain in the evening.
Damage to a bridge has split the town in two, and a house at nearby Waipiro Bay was swept into the sea.
Tokomaru Bay resident Henrietta Milner-Skudder says there’s water everywhere, and she’s keeping a close watch on whether she’ll be forced to leave her coastal home because of erosion.
She says the flooding comes on top of the Omicron wave.
“So it’s trying to manage that with their whānau who are having to isolate and how do we use the marae, because one of our marae is under threat of flooding, but the whānau have been fantastic in supporting each other. With everything on top of one another it’s certainly stretched the capacity of everybody to be able to support,” Ms Milner-Scudder says.
Gisborne Civil Defence issued another flood warning for the Tolaga Bay area about 9 pm last night, saying the Hikuwai River was at 9.6 metres and rising.
It urged residents to self-evacuate in flood prone areas or if they think they are at risk.