Weather lash closes North Island holiday beaches as schools break for the year
Thursday, 15 December 2022
Beaches have been closed in holiday hotspots Whangamatā and Mt Maunganui due to “dangerous conditions” as pre-Christmas bad weather lashes the upper North Island.
A surf lifesaving spokesperson in the tower at Mt Maunganui beach said there were “big swells, strong currents and rips” and warning signs have been put on the beaches advising people not to swim.
At Whangamatā, after a swim to check the conditions, the head lifeguard closed the beach on Wednesday and advised beach goers that while lifeguards would be in the tower they would not be on the beach at all.
The beach remained closed on Thursday, but lifeguards will monitor and reassess the situation, and this weekend’s surfing lifesaving competition, The Mount Monster, was expected to go ahead.
Thames-Coromandel’s mayor wasn’t ruling out holidaymakers enjoying a hot fun summer despite the latest weather just as schools close their doors for the summer holidays..
Len Salt said the cleanup would be handled as quickly as possible due to the fact they are well versed in these types of weather fallouts.
“When we have flooding events like this particularly when we have a combination of tide, and rain from the hills, as the rain eases off they tend to dissipate fairly quickly.”
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At this stage Salt’s not anticipating interruptions to travel and holiday plans.
“There are so many people who have really been looking forward to getting out to the beach, getting out and having a holiday without restrictions and just getting back to enjoying everything they used to enjoy.
“I think another 24 hours, and we will be back to normal”.
He said businesses are keen to see the public back through their doors with no restrictions this year.
Thames-Coromandel, a bolthole for Aucklanders over the festive season, recorded over 220mm of rain at the Pinnacles and 105mm at Castle Rock leaving a number of roads impassable due to slips and flooding.
Civil defence controller Garry Towler said many roads would remain closed until late Thursday or into Friday.
He said the whole area from Whangamatā to Whitianga is closed due to flooding and slips.
”There was well over 300mm of rain for this event.
”If people want to check their properties on the Coromandel they should check roads before they leave or there could be very long delays to get to where they want to go.”
Towler mentioned there is also high tide around 1pm on Thursday, putting increased pressure on waterways.
Yet, he said there had been no weather-enforced evacuations, and no reports of urban or house flooding.
“People need to take extreme care on the roads as they are very dangerous.”
Road closures
Flooding closed Hikuai Settlement Rd between Prescotts Garage and the Waterways roundabout on Thursday.
Pippa Prescott at Prescotts Garage said at 8am it was still raining and cloudy but the sun was starting to come out a little bit.
“It was pouring down all night. The road from here to Whangamatā is closed, so we are pretty much cut off apart from some people sneaking up from Pauanui.”
She said the shop was open but no-one was currently there.
A slip has also closed SH25 between SH25a and McBeth Rd with a secondary closure at the 8km mark due to surface water flooding making the road impassable.
Surface flooding has also made Wentworth Valley Rd near Whangamatā impassable.
Tapu Coroglen Rd has a slip and council staff were on their way to investigate. It’s not yet known if motorists are able to get through.
Staff are also investigating a slip on Kennedy Bay Rd and will update when it’s known if vehicles can get through.
The council also sent staff to Hot Water beach due the road being closed.
Further north, a van had rolled on 309 Road blocking the route over the range, but that has now been cleared.
A slip at the start of Old Coach Rd is closed due to a large slip, and is expected to be closed for some time.
The Port Jackson Rd is also closed due to the Ohinewai Ford flooding. Also closed due to flooding is Fletcher Bay Rd and Old Maratoto Rd.
Waka Kotahi said that any weather event will impact on the structure of roads to some degree.
“Fortunately the East Waikato network team has completed the vast majority of their SH25 summer chipseal programme, however other activities across the network are being hampered by this recent weather, as well as the wet weather we have had across the previous months.”
Contractors are aiming to have any remaining work completed before road works on the state highways pause on December 22.