Our Council's Emergency Management Unit and the Waikato Regional Council Flood Room teams met with the MetService Severe weather forecaster this afternoon to take a closer look at the incoming weather event.

Once again, the highest impact will be on the Eastern Seaboard, south of Whitianga down to Whangamata and Whiritoa.

Heavy overnight rain from 11pm tonight will continue through much of Thursday (16 July), delivering localised downpours of 25 to 30mm per hour in places, culminating up to 150mm.

Later on Thursday and into Friday (17 July), as the storm passes, there could be the odd thunderstorm.

"Overall we can expect a similar outcome to the last rain event in late June, with surface flooding, slips and road closures," says our Civil Defence Controller, Garry Towler. "High tides are mid-afternoon Thursday, so it's highly likely the Eastern Seaboard will be isolated again at Hikuai and possibly south of Whitianga for some time."

Farmers south of Whitianga are urged to move stock to high ground and prepare for rapid river rises as the saturated ground won't absorb as much as it did in the last rain event.

"If you have plans to travel on Thursday please reconsider," says Mr Towler. "We advise you travel before midnight tonight or wait it out until Friday. The risks are not worth it, it's that simple."

Stay up-to-date:

Weather updates - MetService.

High tide - Thursday 16 July:

• Thames - 3:08am, 3.0m and 3:40pm, 3.0m
• Whitianga - 3:02am, 1.9m and 3:39pm 1.8m

State Highways (SH25, SH25A, SH26 in the Coromandel) - NZTA. You can also call NZTA on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) for traffic and travel information. You can use their journey-planning website to plan the best route for your journey, taking into account known issues and traffic on state highways.

Council roads - We will post regular updates on our Council's Facebook page as well as on our website and email newsletters. If you see an issue that needs attention, call us on 07 868 0200.

Local radio - Check stations and frequencies here.

Red Cross Hazards App - alerts about hazards. Download from the App Store or Google Play.

Emergency Mobile Alert - these can be sent to your mobile phone, without needing to download an app or sign up. Check if your phone is capable of receiving them, here

Waikato Regional Council has set up an online hub for rainfall and flood-related information to help people more easily keep up to date with severe weather events in the region. It can be found here.

Also follow Waikato Civil Defence on Facebook here and check out their website for updates here.

Know your neighbours - phone each other in an emergency, especially vulnerable people, to check if they're OK.

To report a power outage contact your electricity retailer (the company you pay your bill to). Information about current power cuts can be found here.

For more on these channels, and other information about staying informed in emergencies, go to the Civil Defence "Never Happens" website.

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