The flooding, which occurred overnight on June 20 prompted some evacuations among homes around Tokomaru Bay as rivers around Te Araroa and Wharekahika flooded, according to RNZ.
The rain caused numerous roads to be washed away, including a bridge at Waipiro Bay. In Ruatoria, more than 200mm of rain was recorded in 24 hours.
Federated Farmers Gisborne-Wairoa president Toby Williams says the damage appeared to be minor to medium-scaled, ranging from broken fences, slips, flooded paddocks generally cleaning up and removing silt and debris.
“It’s nothing outside of normal farm maintenance,” Williams said.
There are some reports of stock losses, but these were in the tens, rather than larger figures. He says he was glad the flooding had happened in June rather than in a few months’ time during lambing.
“We’d be having a different conversation,” he said.
He says the damage was nowhere near the scale of what occurred in Canterbury earlier this month.
The flooding was part of a low pressure system that moved slowly across the North Island, bringing rain for much of the North Island and northeastern South Island, causing the flooding.
“Parts of Gisborne received around 220mm of rain, while over 150mm fell in parts of the Coromandel Peninsula, the ranges of Hawke’s Bay, all the way down to the greater Wellington region over Saturday and Sunday,” MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said
Williams says many farmers had also welcomed the rain as it had refilled aquifers, which had been emptied from the prolonged dry.
The Gisborne District Council still had several roads up and down the region closed while crews removed debris and slips.
