State Highway 1 between Blenheim and Picton is inundated by flooding, taking the road down to one lane and causing ferry crossings to delay as motorists get stuck in long queues into the port town.

Ex-Cyclone Hale is heading south, and surface flooding had “added an extra hour to the journey in and out of Picton”, Waka Kotahi NZTA’s journey manager Tresca Forrester said.

Traffic was delayed at Koromiko, the southern entrance to Picton, where 99mm of rain has fallen in the last six hours and had flooded the highway, Waka Kotahi said.

Former Christchurch City Councillor Deon Swiggs was travelling south from Picton when he encountered the “horrific” weather.

“Some severe flooding over the roads just south of Picton,” said Swiggs.

“And the Kaikoura coast isn’t much better. Blenheim was weirdly fine and dry.”

State Highway 57 between Shannon and Tokomaru in the Manawatū-Whanganui region has since reopened after strong winds closed the road this morning.

A rural property has been buried under storm debris in Tolaga Bay as swollen rivers burst their banks.

Photos supplied to the Herald show entire paddocks covered with storm debris after heavy rain pounded the Gisborne region.

The area surrounding the Mangatokerau Bridge in Tolaga Bay is buried by forest debris. Photo / Miss-Kate Rochelle

(Article continues after live blog)

Meanwhile a desperate bid to save a Whitianga building from being washed into the sea has worked, with a makeshift sea wall holding fast after this morning’s high tide.

The seaside clubhouse for the Mercury Bay Boating Club has managed to escape further damage after losing land beneath its front veranda overnight.

Club commodore Jonathan Kline said this morning’s effort by the scores of club members and local residents was phenomenal.”I woke up this morning in a very bad state and then we made a few decisions to proceed with what we were told not to do yesterday and I feel great.

Tairāwhiti / Gisborne continues to be in a state of emergency and authorities say more rain is on the horizon after ex-Cyclone Hale wreaked havoc in the area.

Some communities are cut off and more than 1300 households without power after Hale pummeled the region overnight.

”We’re asking everyone to please be patient and continue to avoid all unnecessary travel,” Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Nedine Thatcher Swann said.

“We have multiple road closures, there is still surface flooding and as more people get out and about this morning we are hearing more reports of large cracks in roads.”

“At 3am the Hikuwai River peaked at 13.51m - this exceeds the Cyclone Bola level of 13.31m.

“This is a record-breaking height for the Hikuwai River,” she said.

Swann said there is a still a lot of water in the catchments and river levels remain high with woody debris collecting at bridges around Tairāwhiti.

A bridge has been washed and is covered in forestry slash and there is widespread flooding and slips, forcing families to flee their homes.

The Uawa Civil Defence have posted photos and videos to their Facebook showing the Wigan Bridge on Tauwhareparae Rd out of Tolaga Bay completely covered in water and wood debris.

“The bridge is somewhere under there,” it wrote.

A state of emergency was declared in the Gisborne area late last night as North Island communities brace for more wild weather today.

The Coromandel Pensinsula is this morning cut off to motorists due to slips and flooding caused by the heavy rain that has battered the region.

The Hikuwai (Gisborne) area copped 156.5mm of rain in the 12 hours to 7am today, MetService says.

State Highway 25 is now closed between Thames and Coromandel after an overnight slip between Te Puru and Tapu. A slip has also blocked SH25A between Hikuai and Kopu.

Tairawhiti Civil Defence have reported that 1270 homes across the region are without power.”Our focus is restoring power and access to all our cut off communities, but it may take time.”

A state of emergency was declared in the Gisborne region late last night.

“We want to ensure our community is aware we have more rain to come and rivers are still rising.

“We have surface flooding across the region and ask everyone to please respect any road barriers that are up.”

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Nedine Thatcher Swann asked the public to stay off the roads “and take this weather event seriously”.

People on the North Island’s East Coast have borne the brunt of the ex-cyclone, with a heaving dump of rain and gale-force winds cutting power and closing roads.

Watches and warnings for heavy rain and severe gales remained in force overnight for several already-drenched regions, but MetService is forecasting Hale to move off to the southeast late today.

A main road out of Coromandel remains blocked overnight by a slip but the worst of the weather appears to have passed with rain and wind easing on the eastern side of the peninsula.

This morning State Highway 25A remained impassable between Hikuai and Kopu.

The storm is causing travel disruptions around the North Island.

A fallen tree has been blocking traffic on the State Highway 25 Napier to Taupō Road.

Part of State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier is closed due to slips.

State Highway 35 between Gisborne and Ruatoria has been closed overnight.

Sections of State Highway 25 and 25A on the Coromandel Peninsula are closed due to slips.

In Northland, State Highway 11 south of Paihia is closed due to a fallen tree.

River peaked at 13.2 metres

Meanwhile in Tairāwhiti, Civil Defence said while the rain was easing the Hikuwai River at Willow flat reached near Cyclone Bola levels peaking at 13.2 metres.

Civil Defence was continuing to monitor the region’s swollen rivers overnight.

Thames Coromandel District Council described the storm as a “one-in-20-year event” after a briefing with MetService and Waikato Regional Council, who warned to expect rainfall figures across the region to total 400mm for the event.

“Our catchments are struggling to cope,” the council said.

Just days ago, a storm flooded roads and ruined holidays at the Coromandel Peninsula.

Yesterday about 500 households in the area were without power and firefighters had to clear floodwater from at least one property.

Storm-lashed Gisborne families near the Hikuwai River around Mangatuna self-evacuated after Civil Defence warned ex-Cyclone Hale was “potentially one of the worst” they had seen.

Up to 250mm of rain and swells of up to 6m were expected across the district.

Civil Defence controller Greg Shelton said the river was rising rapidly last night.

There was a major risk of thousands of hectares of farmland and property being damaged as the river threatened to reach a record-breaking level that would trigger mandatory evacuations.

Earlier modelling suggested it could peak at 12.5m by high tide last night.

Coastline campers staying around Kaiaua on the Firth of Thames were also told to evacuate.

“Rough seas from Cyclone Hale caused some pretty substantial beach erosion in Whitianga,” Niwa tweeted..

Whitianga erosion at Mercury Bay Boating Club. Photo / Hayden Woodward

The Mercury Bay Boating Club lost metres of bank that dropped into the sea as high tides and swells crashed against the unprotected shore.

Large chunks were carved out by Hale, coming after nearly four metres of land was already lost into the sea since May 2021.

Locals struggling to keep the erosion from reaching the boating club said the house next door to the boat club was also under threat.

MetService reported that Auckland’s north and Northland were hit by nearly a month’s worth of rain in the 24 hours since the ex-cyclone made landfall.

Overnight, more rain was forecast to fall on the already sodden ground with authorities warning of more slips and slumps around the region.

Back in Gisborne, the emergency valve at the Gladstone Rd Bridge had to be opened to release pressure.

“The Wainui Rd pump station is at the highest level we’ve ever seen,” the council’s Four Waters operation manager Chris Hopman said.

“We need to open the valves into waterways to avoid wastewater overflows into people’s homes and through manholes on the street, which can cause health risks.”

The weather caused chaos on the roads with flooding, and near Dome Valley north of Warkworth, a tree was brought down by the winds.

Police warned of major delays caused by the tree that blocked the northbound lane on State Highway 1.

Ex-cyclone Hale hits Northland. Water from paddocks runs over Kokopu Rd. Photo / Tania Whyte

In Northland, state highways were closed because of flooding and flights were cancelled.

SH1 through the Brynderwyns was closed shortly after midday due to slips and surface flooding before reopening around 8pm.

Shortly afterwards, SH1 between Glenmohr Rd and Waipū was completely closed due to flooding.

Unsealed roads will remain closed to freight trucks in the region until 8pm today.

SH15 between Loop Rd, Otaika and Maungatapere was closed from late morning yesterday, also due to flooding. SH35 was closed from 7pm between Tolaga Bay and Ruatoria after some roads slumped.

Gisborne District Council urged extreme caution on roads after motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles in a flooded stream.

All four Air New Zealand flights to and from Whangārei Airport yesterday were cancelled due to the weather.

A spokesperson for the airline said affected customers would be contacted directly and put on the next available services.

MetService forecaster Allister Gorman said Hale travelled quickly — first moving towards the Hauraki Gulf area before turning east again.

The rain caused widespread surface flooding in Whangārei, which copped a month’s worth of rain in a day.

Hire scooters are in for a splash in Whangārei's Porowini Ave as ex-cyclone Hale hits Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

As of 3pm yesterday, Whangārei had received 96mm of rain in 12 hours.

Most parts of Northland received at least 30mm of rain yesterday, with 45mm in Kaikohe and 33mm in Kerikeri.

Federated Farmers Northland president Colin Hannah said farmers were struggling to get crops in or make silage in the rain.

“Things are so wet no one can get crops in, silage has been delayed for months and a lot of the grass is starting to rot underneath now with so much rain.”

Hannah, whose farm is just out of Whangārei, said it was his sixth flood in the last year.

MetService has issued strong wind watches today for the Waikato around the Kaimai Range and Eastern Taupō which could mean southeast winds approaching severe gales at times.

Heavy rain warnings remain in place for the Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, the Eastern Wairarapa, and Tararua Range.

Ex-cyclone Hale caused flooding across many parts of the NorthIsland, including Gisborne. Photo / Liam Clayton, Gisborne Herald

MetService last night also issued heavy rain watches for Mount Taranaki, Marlborough and Canterbury coast from Cape Campbell to Kaikoura and the Seaward Kaikoura Range, and the Central North Island hills and mountains.

Hale, New Zealand’s first tropical storm of 2023, started hitting the North Island late on Monday night — earlier than previously forecast.

The weather is expected to ease this evening, but MetService is monitoring the possibility of another cyclone hitting New Zealand next week.

Weather forecasting models are predicting a storm to form in the tropics over the weekend and possibly move towards the North Island further east, or missing landfall altogether.

MetService’s Alwyn Bakker said there was an indication of something forming but it was too early to say anything with certainty.

“We are monitoring it and if necessary we will issue warnings ... “If it does become important we will let the public know. Right now the focus is on the cyclone we do have.”