'Dodge a bullet': New Plymouth mayor relieved after heavy rainfall spared most

RNZ News

06-07-2025

Flooding at Puke Ariki Landing in New Plymouth.
Photo:
ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
A small number of South Taranaki residents are still cut off after
the weekend's deluge
.
Two-hundred and eight millimetres of rain fell over 24 hours across the region over the weekend, but South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon told RNZ the district has
held up "pretty well" given the extensive flooding
.
Nixon said the priority now was to get roads reopened, as some people still had no access in or out.
"We certainly do have a few. We still haven't got a number of how many, but opening up the Waitotara Valley Road at the weekend we're freed up a few.
"But there are still some people isolated at this stage,."
Several roads remained closed across Taranaki, and only one lane was open through Mt Messenger due to a large slip.
Phil Nixon.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
Nixon said some rivers, such as the Waitotara, were at their absolute maximum levels.
"It was at 10.5m and the tipping point is 11m, so we were very close, and that's what we were up against. We had the odd blocked culvert, but in the main we were at the max and managed to dodge a bullet."
In the town of Eltham, a car was submerged in floodwaters and the large lake-like pool was dubbed 'Lake Eltham'
by locals
.
"We had a huge pile-up of water in the centre of Eltham… we've got an investigation to do there," Nixon said.
Meanwhile, New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom was nervous about the region's resilience after stormy weather cut off arterial routes.
Crews were still working to fully reopen the main state highways north out of Taranaki after heavy rain caused widespread flooding and slips last week.
Neil Holdom said in some areas the infrastructure was pushed to its limits.
"It's a real concern to us, that loss of connectivity, because there's a huge amount of trucking that comes in and out of Taranaki - so the impact on our economy, plus of course it's the middle of the school holidays, a lot of people travelling, a lot of uncertainty, and that's continuing now."
State Highway 3 was down to a single lane in parts after slips at Mount Messenger and between Mōkau and Piopio.
Geotechnical experts were expected on the other main route north out of Taranaki, SH43, closed by a slip between Whangamomona and Taumarunui. Holdom said that was putting a lot of pressure on the freight industry.
"Massive impact for the trucking sector, someone who drove through there told me it looked like a battle zone.
"That will take quite a lot of time to reinstate the highway to two lanes, which really shows how important it is to get this bypass through as soon as possible."
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