Peter Revell: Thames-Coromandel mayor on the flooding impacting the region

Civil Defence in Tolaga Bay East Coast says low-lying households near Hikuwai River should evacuate now.

Surface flooding has stranded several East Coast communities - with no easing yet of the tropical storm battering the North Island. 

Tairawhiti has now joined Whangārei, Hauraki, Thames-Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty in declaring States of Emergency.

Red rain warnings for Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and parts of Gisborne will start expiring between 11pm and 11am tomorrow.

Hauraki District Council says some homes in Whiritoa have been evacuated, and the Surf Club has been set up as a Civil Defence site. 

In Thames Coromandel, Mayor Peter Revell says Whitianga, Cooks Beach and Pauanui are cut off, with near record rain already last night. 

"There's going to be significant volumes of rain in the next four or five hours, so that will certainly load up the rivers and threaten slips on roads and what have you."

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