In advance of more heavy rain due to hit our region, we are offering information on flood vulnerability and landslide warning signs for residents.

Flood vulnerability information

Bay of Plenty residents are being warned to expect more heavy rain and flooding as Cyclone Cook moves across the Pacific and potentially tracks towards the Bay.

Soils remain saturated in many low-lying areas following the recent heavy rainfall and surface flooding last week.

Flooding can be difficult to predict, but areas that experienced recent flooding are vulnerable and Council maps show areas where significant flood hazard is likely. 

If you live or work in areas where run-off is likely to collect, there are things you can do to protect your home or business:

• Safety first: Stay away from swollen streams, creeks and rivers. If you can, give others a hand to help protect their property.
• People with disabilities or other health and mobility issues should go and stay with friends or family if floodwaters are likely to block access to and from their homes
• Unblock any drains or culverts on or around the property
• Move any valuables to areas that are safe from flooding (photo albums, legal documents etc) from low-lying parts of the house to higher up. Get your car out of any area that has flooded previously
• Use sandbags around doors to help keep floodwaters out of the house or – if your hardware store has sold out - use sacks or plastic rubbish bags filled with soil instead
• Help the region’s Councils and engineers by using an indelible marker to indicate the water level, date and time of flooding on your property or on power poles and fence posts.

For insurance purposes, people with mobile phones are encouraged to take geotagged photos of any flooded areas.

Landslides and landslide warning signs

Meteorologists are tracking a second damaging tropical cyclone north of New Zealand that is currently forecast to bring ‘very heavy rain’ to the Bay of Plenty later this week.

Further rainfall on our already saturated region will significantly increase the risk of landslide and flood.

Some areas of the Bay of Plenty are more vulnerable to land sliding because of the volcanic ash profile of the soil and the steepness of the topography. Landslides in this region are fast moving and potentially damaging.

Although landslides sometimes occur without warning, there are often visible clues that indicate the land is moving.

If you are in an area where there have been slips in the past, or your property contains steep slopes, please take a moment to look around your property for potential signs of instability before more rain arrives later this week.

What to look out for

• Cracks in the ground running across slopes (tension cracks, see photographs)
• Bulging ground on slopes
• Displaced ground, plants and trees
• Fences or retaining walls that are out of alignment and/or tilting
• Debris at the bottom of slopes 
• Cracks in buildings, or your house is creaking
• Cracks/bulges in hard surfaces (roads, paths, retaining walls)
• Sticking doors/window frames
• Tilting decks, sheds, paths 
• Water doing something different, such as:
  • Sudden arrival of water
  • Groundwater springs where there are usually none
  • Wet ground that is usually dry or
  • The disappearance of water from where it is usually present 

What to do

If you observe any of these landslip warning signs or if a landslip occurs on your property:

• Stay a safe distance away from the area of instability. Do not walk over it.
• Phone Council as soon as possible to report your concerns
• Take photographs that show any of the warning signs above
• Call Council or the relevant authorities to advise them of the situation 
• If you feel unsafe, self-evacuate and stay elsewhere if possible