Emergency response team eyes rainfall over the next 48 hours

Flood models based on the current weather forecast suggest water levels in the lower Waikato and Waipa rivers will not rise as high as last week.

However any rain above the forecast levels could see the rivers rise quickly so Environment Waikato’s emergency response team will remain on alert throughout the weekend.

“We will continue to closely monitor rainfall and river levels over the next 48 hours or so,” Environment Waikato emergency management officer Adam Munro said.

“The Waikato and Waipa Rivers are expected to rise over the next few days at least, but at this stage we’re not expecting as much water through Huntly and Mercer as we had last week.

“We will be watching the situation closely in case there are any changes in the forecast.”

Bursts of rain over the past 24 hours have continued to put pressure on the region’s rivers and catchments are reacting quickly.

More periods of rain are expected today and tomorrow, with the weather expected to improve on Sunday.

Environment Waikato’s operations team will be ready to carry out inspections to ensure stop banks and flood pumps are performing as designed.

Due to the high river levels, landowners adjacent to stopbanks can expect to see some seepage.