Evacuees return home, thousands remain without power
Monday, 16 February 2026
Riverside residents in Ashhurst and Tararua have returned to their homes as fears of flooding fade, though heavy rain warnings remain in place across the wider Manawatū.
There was still severe weather predicted on Monday, but mayors in Manawatū, Tararua and Rangitīkei were relieved conditions hadn’t turned out as badly as forecast on Sunday.
Thirty-seven people evacuated overnight on the Saddle Rd and River Rd in Ashhurst near the Pohangina River, as well as at Herbertville in eastern Tararua, have now returned to their homes.
Most waterways across the region appear to have peaked, although the Ōroua and Pohangina rivers in Manawatū district were still rising.
MetService has cancelled its red heavy rain warning, replacing it with an “orange” level alert, with another 30 to 60mm of rain expected by 3pm, with peak rates of 10 to 15mm per hour.
A region-wide state of emergency remained in place as heavy rain and strong winds battered the Manawatū, Tararua and Rangitīkei districts, closing roads and causing power cuts.
Up to 14,000 properties remained without power, while the outages were also affecting water treatment plants, with people asked to conserve water at Fordell, Taihape, Mangaweka, Hunterville and Rātana.
Numerous roads were closed due to fallen trees and other debris too dangerous to clear. Lines companies were assessing the situation and working to restore power when safe to do so.
New Zealand Defence Force had dispatched an NH-90 to assist people stuck on Turakina Valley Rd due to a slip, but the helicopter was stood down after the farmers were able to clear the slip themselves.
The following roads remain closed:
SH54 Cheltenham to SH1 intersection
SH1 between Hunterville and Waiouru
SH56 at Ōpiki between Rangiotu Rd and Tane Rd
SH4 between Whanganui and Raetihi
Saddle Rd
Pohangina River concern
Manawatū mayor Michael Ford said the council was monitoring the situation.
“The wind has been as bad as expected but we haven’t received as much rain as expected, which is good. The weather event is still active.
“We’ve got a lot of trees down, about 20 roads are closed in the district, including State Highway 54.”
The Pohangina River was causing the most concern as it was peaking at about the same level as Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
Ford said the Rangitīkei River was also full and expected to peak late morning, but it should stay within its banks.
Crews had been out clearing roads and working with Powerco to help get power back on.
The council hadn’t opened its welfare centre but would do so if required. Its emergency operations centre was running.
“We’re expecting another three to six hours of bad weather. We're not out of the woods yet.”
Ford asked people to be careful and said there was information on the council website.
“The modelling I looked at [on Sunday], and it’s always worst case scenario, but it did look as if we would get to 2004 levels.”
Isolated flooding in Tararua
Tararua mayor Scott Gilmore said it looked as if the region had missed the worst of it.
'It wasn't as bad as what it could have been, what was predicted thank goodness. We're still assessing some of the damage.
'We've still got trees down and we're just checking for slips and other things.
'I'm very grateful to out professional staff team and emergency operations centre and our community and volunteers for mobilising.'
He said the information the council had received was that river levels were going to reach the same as during Cyclone Gabrielle, which were at record levels then and caused much damage, but it hadn't reached there this time.
There had been isolated surface flooding across the district, while trees and power lines were down.
Gilmore said he would make the same call about the state of emergency again because things could have been very different.
‘We’ve dodged a bullet’
Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said he was thankful things hadn’t turned out as badly as forecast.
“We’ve dodged a bullet. The projected rainfall was incredibly significant, but it looks as if it hasn’t played out this way. We’re likely to have escaped flooding but we’ll continue to monitor things over the next few hours.”
He said the significant damage had been from the wind, with a number of roads closed and trees down across the district.
Watson backed his decision to declare a state of emergency early.
“I’d much rather declare and not need it, rather than saying to myself ‘hell, I wish I’d declared’.”
The closure of the Makino floodgates at Feilding in Manawatū had resulted in road closures on Reid Line West and Brewsters Rd. This was normal.
At least 35 schools across Manawatū, Rangitīkei and Tararua closed for the day.
The region-wide state of emergency was declared on Sunday night. Between 140 to 180mm of rain was expected, with peak rates of 10 to 20mm an hour on Sunday night and Monday morning.
The rain was forecast to mainly fall in the ranges before flowing through rivers to the coast. The rain warnings were in place until Monday 3pm.
Public safety instructions
Conditions are expected to worsen in the short term. Now is the time to shelter in place if it is safe to do so.
Avoid any non-essential travel. Roads will begin to flood and be blocked by trees, and this will be difficult to spot in the dark.
If in doubt, get out – this applies to people and stock.
Never walk, play, swim or drive in flood water.
If you lose power, unplug major appliances to avoid power surge damage, use torches instead of candles as they’re safer.
If you rely on power for medical equipment and lose power, call 111 or go to your nearest medical centre if it is safe to do so.
If you have a power cut, eat food in your fridge first, then your freezer, then your cupboard or emergency kit. Minimise the number of times you open your fridge or freezer door.
Use a radio to stay connected with key messaging if you lose power.
If you are in danger, call 111. 111 calls will be carried on other networks. If your phone says “No Service”, try anyway and give the phone time to connect.