Flooded Ruamāhanga River on Tuesday looking down on the South Wairarapa.
Photo: Mike Laven
Five homes have been evacuated in Gladstone near Carterton due to rising river levels.
The homes, on Gladstone Road, were not far from the Tauweru River, an emergency operations spokesperson said.
Carterton mayor Steve Cretney said police and Fire and Emergency decided to evacuate the homes as a precaution.
He said ongoing rain during the day had caused the Tauweru River to rise, which feeds into the Ruamāhanga River.
The Ruamāhanga River had “steadily been rising throughout the day”.
Cretney said with the rain set to ease, and river levels predicted to fall slowly throughout the night, he did not expect more evacuations.
“The rain has eased from what it was, so the river levels will peak, and they will slowly recede overnight.”
Evacuated residents were staying with friends and family, Cretney said.
“Police and FENZ [Fire and Emergency] decided it was in [the residents’] best interests to evacuate … I do understand a couple residents living out there did not want to leave their homes, but they were encouraged by Police and FENZ to leave, just as a precautionary.”
It came as the state of emergency lifted for other parts of the Wellington region.
It was now ended in Upper Hutt, Porirua City and the Kāpiti Coast, but was still in place for all other parts of the Wellington region, including all of Wairarapa.
According to Wellington Region Emergency Management, it would remain in place while damage, needs, building safety, and recovery assessments continued.
Meanwhile, a campground in the Tararua district was preparing to possibly self-evacuate, with the council saying Wainui River levels were “very high.”
The district was still under a heavy rain warning until midnight.
Herbertville Campground manager Chris Cawsey said he was up all last night in case he and the six people staying at the site needed to leave.
“The flood alert alarm sounded at about 1am this morning and that’s when it hit five and a half metres. At six and a half metres it’s bursting its banks, but we’re pretty much sitting at the vege of that now.”
Cawsey said Cyclone Gabrielle was an eye-opener and they also experienced some flooding at the camp about seven or eight weeks ago.
“It’s all in the back of our mind, we don’t want to get trapped here, we don’t want to get flooded, we don’t want to wake up in the morning or through the night to a wet bed.”
Tararua mayor Scott Gilmore said the council was in constant communication with the campsite.
He urged people in the district to remain vigilant.
Meanwhile, Ākitio had received 206mm of rain in the space of 24 hours.
Earlier, the council said the community was isolated as Coast Road and River Road were both closed from slips and flooding.
Gilmore said there had since been some four-wheel drive access for emergency vehicles restored.
A total of eight roads across the district were closed due to slips, flooding and fallen trees – another four roads were reduced to single lane.
Wellington City Council said it was dealing with about 20 homes that were badly damaged and currently uninhabitable – some might be issued with ‘dangerous building’ notices.
“We are aware there are more houses that are damaged but the Council is not directly involved – owners are dealing with insurance companies,” a spokesperson said.
All council facilities would reopen tomorrow on Wednesday, excluding the flood-damaged Island Bay Library, Newlands Library, and sportsfields which were “sodden and unplayable”.
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