Coromandel cleaning up after Cyclone Wilma

Crews working hard to clear slips.

Numerous Coromandel roads are closed due to slips from heavy rain after Cyclone Wilma lashed the peninsula in the early hours of the morning.

Roading contractors are working hard to clear the slips but many roads may remain inaccessible throughout the weekend.

More rain than originally forecast fell overnight in various areas, including 275mm recorded at Castle Rock. The forecast had been for up to 150mm to fall on the Coromandel.

Thames-Coromandel District Council (TCDC) Operations Manager, Greg Hampton says "stormwater and sewage systems are under severe pressure and working at full capacity."

"Puriri township is out of water and a tanker is parked at the Puriri Hotel for residents, but all other Peninsula water supplies are operational."

Roading crews are working to clear the Tapu-Coroglen, Colville, Port Charles and Port Jackson roads. Other local roads still closed include the 309, Opoutere and Ohui roads. Kennedy Bay Road is passable only by four-wheel drive vehicles.*

"Other crews are waiting for flood water levels to recede in Tairua, Hot Water Beach, Hahei and Cooks Beach," he said, "but with high tide at four this afternoon, progress on the east coast roads will be slow."

"Substantial surface flooding remains, especially in parts of Mercury Bay, where the flooding is as bad as we've seen in decades."

Acting Inspector Danny Meade of the Police Northern Communications Centre urges motorists to postpone travel to or around the Peninsula unless absolutely necessary.

*State Highway information can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz.