Edgecumbe residents and farmers are advised that measures have been taken to make their District as safe as possible from the rainfall forecast for today and tonight.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council says the amount of rain forecast will not threaten the stopbank and that their river flap gates are repaired and operational.

The Edgecumbe treatment ponds have been reduced to a low level and are expected to have ‘freeboard’ to accommodate more rain and wastewater flow rates.

The main area of concern is that the cleaning up process will be slowed down with the additional rain, as low-lying areas are still saturated.

Additional staff will be on standby for the heaviest rainfall periods, and a vacuum tanker will be on standby in Edgecumbe just in case there are any overflows from the stormwater system.

If an alert is received (via telemetry) the Otakiri valve will be activated. And as an extra precaution, it will be monitored by a Whakatāne District Council staff member.

Residents of Edgecumbe and other towns in the District are asked to check that their house gulley traps are clear before the rainfall arrives.