Rain reaches extreme levels in eastern Bay

Environment Bay of Plenty recorded some of its highest levels of rainfall last night when heavy rain fell for a short period of time across parts of the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Environment Bay of Plenty Rivers and Drainage Group Manager Ken Tarboton said the rainfall occurred over a short period of time but was very intense.

“In one hour we recorded 79mm at Thornton which matched recordings made by the Metservice in the same area at the Whakatāne airport.

“The areas from Rangataiki at Thornton to Otara at Ōpōtiki wharf recorded rainfall with an average recurrence interval (AVI) of a 100 year storm event. In other words, there’s a one in 100 likelihood of this kind of rainfall occurring in any one year.

“We experienced some serious rainfall in the Whakatāne township with 69mm recorded in one hour and 113mm recorded in a three hour period. With the heavy rainfall that occurred just over a week earlier we recorded 48mm in one hour at its peak intensity,” Mr Tarboton said.

Environment Bay of Plenty Rivers and Drainage staff worked throughout the night to ensure river levels were being monitored and pumps were functioning across the region.

For updated information, visit Environment Bay of Plenty’s website at www.envbop.govt.nz and click on the live monitoring link to see updates of river and rainfall levels around the region.

ENDS

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