State of emergency in \u014ctorohanga, man found dead in floodwaters – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n‘We could just see everything starting to float’ <\/p>\n
![\"Lionel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771029082_65_lionel-killen-shows-some-of-the-damage-to-his-property-CEV4NASLEVGENO36DR2HJQE3W4.jpg\")
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Lionel Killen shows some of the damage to his property. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
\u014ctorohanga residents Theresa Butler and Lionel Killen told 1News they awoke during the early hours of the morning to find floodwaters surging towards their property from a nearby river. <\/p>\n
\u201cI walked out towards the ranchslider and the water was getting pretty close to the house,\u201d Butler said. <\/p>\n
“I was fairly worried at that point.” <\/p>\n
Killen said he witnessed the water rising \u201cminute by minute\u201d this morning. <\/p>\n
“It was coming up that fast that we could just see everything starting to float,” he said. <\/p>\n
“I took the cats and slept up in the attic there for a couple of hours this morning. Theresa had the dog and was out on the boat outside.<\/p>\n
Resident Kelly Wolfe told 1News the community had \u201creally banded together\u201d to support one another after the severe flooding. <\/p>\n
“The local farmers have been out on tractors clearing what they can safely,” she said. <\/p>\n
“Everyone is checking on their neighbours and making sure they\u2019re doing okay, and sharing supplies as needed.” <\/p>\n
A man was found dead in his vehicle after it was submerged by floodwaters on State Highway 39 last night. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Residents urged to stay out of floodwaters: ‘It’s not safe’ <\/p>\n
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said crews in the region responded to between 10 and 15 calls, all related to flooding. <\/p>\n
“Crews assisted the swift water rescue teams and assisted the evacuation of properties across the \u014ctorohanga area.<\/p>\n
“Brigades are continuing to assist the swift water rescue teams at this time.” <\/p>\n
Dow urged people to stay out of the floodwaters. <\/p>\n
“It is not safe,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you need help, please contact our call centre on 0800 734 000. If it is an emergency, phone 111 immediately!!”<\/p>\n
An Emergency Operations Centre has been set up in the Council Chambers, with the emergency management team gathering intel and providing support. <\/p>\n
Weather warnings issued <\/p>\n
MetService has issued multiple weather alerts for the coming days. <\/p>\n
Heavy rain warnings are in place on Saturday for Bay of Plenty east of \u014cp\u014dtiki and for Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay. <\/p>\n
From Sunday, further warnings cover Gisborne south of Poverty Bay and Hawke\u2019s Bay east of Wairoa, as well as inland Whanganui, Manawat\u016b north of Marton and Taihape.<\/p>\n
Strong wind warnings begin Sunday for Gisborne south of Poverty Bay, Wairarapa and the Tararua District, and from Sunday night for Wellington and eastern Marlborough. <\/p>\n
Heavy rain watches are also in effect from Sunday for Hawke\u2019s Bay west and south of Wairoa, Wairarapa, the Tararua District and the Tararua Range, and from late Sunday for Wellington.<\/p>\n
Wind watches also apply from Sunday evening through Monday for Manawat\u016b, Taihape, Whanganui, Horowhenua and the K\u0101piti Coast.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Whistler said her neighbour’s shed floated down a tributary of the Waip\u0101 River last night. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
State Highways across the \u014ctorohanga District have been blocked by the flooding. <\/p>\n
Flooding in Waikato closed State Highway 39 between Pirongia and \u014ctorohanga.<\/p>\n
There is no curernt access into where Ngutunui Rd and SH31 meet SH39. A detour is available via SH30, 32, and SH1. <\/p>\n
State Highway 3 north of Mangaorongo Road at the Stream Bridge is closed.<\/p>\n
Whirinaki Valley Road in Horohoro is open under stop\/go management after a slip, with those who use the road warned in could close on short notice if conditions change. <\/p>\n
State Highway 2 Waioweka Gorge between \u014cp\u014dtiki to M\u0101t\u0101wai is closed due to flooding, while State Highway 35 is shut between P\u014dtaka and Te Araroa while it undergoes repairs. <\/p>\n
The road between Whakaangiangi Road and Te Araroa was closed until Monday due to the weather. <\/p>\n
“People are urged to avoid any non-essential travel and follow advice of officials,” NZTA said. <\/p>\n
“With bad weather continuing today it\u2019s important people slow down, be patient and drive with care and to the conditions.” <\/p>\n
Full list of weather warnings and watches<\/p>\n
Heavy Rain Warning \u2013 Orange<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty east of \u014cp\u014dtiki \u2013 11 hours from 9am to 8pm Saturday<\/p>\n
Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti north of Tolaga Bay \u2013 24 hours from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday<\/p>\n
Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti south of Poverty Bay and Hawke\u2019s Bay east of Wairoa \u2013 22 hours from 7am Sunday to 5am Monday<\/p>\n
Inland Whanganui, Manawat\u016b north of Marton, and Taihape \u2013 18 hours from 6pm Sunday to noon Monday<\/p>\n
Strong Wind Warning \u2013 Orange<\/p>\n
Gisborne\/Tair\u0101whiti south of Poverty Bay \u2013 15 hours from 4pm Sunday to 7am Monday<\/p>\n
Wairarapa and the Tararua District \u2013 14 hours from 5pm Sunday to 7am Monday<\/p>\n
Wellington and eastern Marlborough north of Clarence \u2013 21 hours from 6pm Sunday to 3pm Monday<\/p>\n
Heavy Rain Watch<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay west and south of Wairoa \u2013 14 hours from 1pm Sunday to 3am Monday<\/p>\n
Wairarapa, Tararua District and the Tararua Range \u2013 24 hours from 4pm Sunday to 4pm Monday<\/p>\n
Wellington \u2013 18 hours from 9pm Sunday to 3pm Monday<\/p>\n
Strong Wind Watch<\/p>\n
Manawat\u016b and Taihape \u2013 12 hours from 7pm Sunday to 7am Monday<\/p>\n
Whanganui \u2013 14 hours from 8pm Sunday to 10am Monday<\/p>\n
Horowhenua and K\u0101piti Coast \u2013 17 hours from 7pm Sunday to noon Monday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around 80 people have been evacuated in the \u014ctorohanga District after heavy overnight rain caused “widespread flooding” and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3092,12506,9001,20277,42,43,40,38,41,39,3393,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-283019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-floods","9":"tag-gisborne","10":"tag-hamilton-waikato","11":"tag-hawke-s-bay","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-weather-news","19":"tag-wellington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}