25 Sep 2023

Heavy rain battering eastern Bay of Plenty

From Midday Report, 12:17 pm on 25 September 2023

Heavy rainfall is continuing to hammer the Bay of Plenty region Monday morning. 

MetService says Ōpōtiki had 59 millimetres of rain since midnight, with the rest of the region seeing between 30 and 60 millimetres.

In eastern Bay of Plenty there's concern Lake Rotomā, which has been flooding intermitently over the past five months, could overflow again and flood part of State Highway 30.

Further south, State Highway 5 south of Tumunui is partially blocked due to a slip caused by heavy rain.

MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen spoke to Charlotte Cook.