Bay of Plenty residents are being told to keep “a very close eye” on the weather this week, with MetService forecasting more heavy rain.

Over the weekend, heavy rain caused slips, floods, and widespread damage to homes across the region.

In the Tauranga suburb of Maungatapu, a slip crashed into homes on Egret Ave about midnight on Saturday, forcing dozens of homeowners to be evacuated.

Paul Griffin said he, his partner Rachel and their two sons, Caleb, 14, and Cooper, 11, were evacuated and stayed with one of Rachel’s friends that night, but were able to return home on Sunday.

He said they were “extremely lucky” their house suffered no damage.

Another evacuated resident, who did not want to be named for privacy reasons, said her family had been given the all-clear to return home, but had decided to stay at an Airbnb until they felt ready to return.

”We just wanted to take some time to recover, and then go home. It was quite the ordeal.”

Luke Hanan and Teresa Hodgson’s home, which they share with their five children, was destroyed by the slip. He said it “snapped in half and then slid and sort of rolled over itself. We were lucky to get out alive. It’s amazing, to be honest”.

The weather warning comes after the MetService weather station at Rotorua Airport recorded 181 millimetres of rain between Friday morning and early Sunday afternoon, and 184.9mm at the Tauranga Airport station.

An aerial image of the landslide that crashed into homes in Maungatapu on Saturday. Photo / Paul Griffin

MetService meteorologist John Law told the Bay of Plenty Times that showers in the region tomorrow morning would turn to rain as the day progressed and northeasterly winds would pick up.

“Sadly, it’s looking like things are going to go downhill as we head through Tuesday, but Wednesday is looking like the wettest and perhaps the windiest time for us.”

A heavy rain warning was in place for the Bay of Plenty from 6am on Wednesday until 3am on Thursday.

During this time, between 90 to 140mm of rain was expected - with the largest amounts likely about inland areas west of Whakatāne. Tauranga could see between 50 to 90mm of rainfall on Wednesday, and Rotorua between 40 to 70mm.

Law said there would be periods of heavy rain with possible thunderstorms, and northeasterly winds would be strong in exposed places.

“There is still [the] potential of some heavy rainfall, and it is coming on top of what we have already seen across the Bay of Plenty.

“It’s definitely a situation we are keeping a very close eye on.”

An aerial image of the landslide that crashed into homes in Maungatapu on Saturday. Photo / Paul Griffin

He said the good news was the weather looked like it would get “a little better” at the end of the week, with conditions easing up.

Tauriko resident Kathleen Wright was rescued by police in a boat on Saturday morning after her Redwood Lane rental property flooded in a matter of minutes.

Speaking about the hours leading up to the rescue, Wright said she woke up to the sound of splashing at 5.30am and opened the backdoor to a group of rabbits “bouncing through the water and struggling”.

Within five minutes water was “coming in the door”, so Wright rushed to wake up her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend.

By this time, the water was ankle-deep in the house and their furniture was becoming submerged, she said.

Just before 6am, they made their way to a neighbouring property which was up on a hill, she said.

“We couldn’t get out of the driveway, so we went to the house on the hill. The water was just rising so quickly.”

It wasn’t until about 11.30am that police came by boat to rescue the group - which included three teenagers who lived next door.

She said the boat had to make three trips as four pets - two kittens and two dogs - also needed rescuing.

“It was kind of a relief, particularly getting the animals out of there. They were fretting. You just want to get to safety.

“I deal okay in a situation of crisis - you just muck in and do what you have got to do.”

She said water levels inside her house were even higher on Sunday, and she had only started efforts to recover her belongings on Monday.

Family photos, furniture and kitchen appliances were among some of the items ruined, she said.

“Everything under a metre high is getting thrown out. I have lodged a claim with insurance - but I am not even thinking about that at the moment - I am just focusing on getting out what I can.”

Wright was staying with friends until she figured out a new living situation for her family.

On Monday morning, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it received 348 calls in the previous 24 hours, 273 of which were from Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

In the Bay of Plenty, there were 57 incidents, which included five priority one rescues and 14 that were priority two.

Meanwhile, people are being urged to avoid swimming in the “temporary lake” on the flooded Greerton Rugby Field.

In a Facebook post, Tauranga City Council said people should avoid entering the water at the Oropi Rd rugby field as floodwaters could be contaminated with sewage, bacteria and chemical runoff.

The Greerton Rugby Field, pictured on Saturday. Photo / Cira Olivier

“The rain has turned the Greerton Rugby Field on Oropi Road into what looks like a temporary lake, but please don’t be tempted to take a dip,” it said.

The council has installed warning signs at the field, and asked people to “stay away from any area that is flooded”.

Meanwhile, the Historic Village has since reopened to the public after surface flooding forced its closure on Sunday.

McLaren Falls Park has also reopened. However, some tracks remained closed, the council said.

Two tracks were closed in Waipuna Park. The track connecting Waipuna Park and Johnson Reserve is closed due to a slip that has also covered part of the bottom loop track.

”We’ll continue to keep an eye on the situation over the next few days and provide updates.”

The council asked people to call them to report flooding, slips or other weather-related issues in the area.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency urged road users to drive to expect delays across the state highway network.

Waka Kotahi regional manager of maintenance and operations, Jacqui Hori-Hoult, said the nature of the continuing weather event meant the status of other roads on the network could change at any time.

“As Metservice forecasts further rainfall and possible hailstorms spreading further down the North Island in the next few days, we are closely monitoring the state of the network in those areas.”

“Our priority remains ensuring delays on our network are minimised and that conditions are safe for road users and contractors at these sites. That means in many places, there will be road workers out with lower speeds in place or stop/go controls.”

Motorists should be mindful of contractor’s cleaning hazards, drive to the conditions and use the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner, she said.

“Please allow more time for your trips at the moment and be courteous to other road users.”