Heavy rain to hit East Coast as cyclone nears

A red heavy rain and wind warning has been issued for Gisborne as ex-tropical Cyclone Fili heads toward the East Coast of the North Island.

Gisborne District Council has issued the red warning for the area, including "heavy rain and severe gales" and "very large waves and coastal inundation".=

"A significant heavy rain event is expected for the Wairoa district and Gisborne where red warnings for heavy rain are now in force.

"People in these areas can expect dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, some roads may become impassable possibly isolating communities, and power outages are also likely."

Forecasters are predicting "widespread impacts" as Fili tracks towards New Zealand - with heavy rain and wind warnings issued for many North Island centres.

MetService this morning updated its forecast, with Gisborne and Wairoa now being under a red heavy rain warning.

Great Barrier Island, Hawke's Bay, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Northland, east of about Kaikohe, all remain under an orange heavy rain warning.

Gisborne can expect between 200 and 300mm of rain from 10pm tonight until 10pm tomorrow with up to 35 to 50mm/h of rain likely in some parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon.

Wairoa will get even more soaked, with 250 to 350mm of rain likely to fall from 1am on Wednesday until 4am on Thursday. It will be hardest hit late Wednesday afternoon and evening with between 35 and 50mm/h of rain possible.

The rain is expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters could cause havoc to the roads and possibly isolate some communities.

Civil Defence Coromandel controller Garry Towler said Fili was fast approaching and the biggest concern for the area was the wind causing coastal damage, slips, power cuts and bringing trees down.

A lot of people had already arrived at the holiday hot spot or would be coming to the area for the next few days as Easter and the school holidays approached.

"As it's an overnight event, it will really kick in this evening and start to clear tomorrow morning," Towler told RNZ today.

All authorities could do for now was to warn people to take responsibility and prepare.

"Just avoid travelling. From dark tonight stay off the roads - they are dangerous."

Towler said there was a high probability they would have power issues and the wind would bring down trees tonight.

MetService was also instructing people to tie down or bring inside anything that wind could break or uplift. Trampolines should be turned upside down to minimise the surface area exposed to the wind.

Niwa meteorologist Chris Brandolino said this morning that Fili had shifted slightly to the east - but not enough to spare New Zealand from the impact.

Rain was already falling on the upper North Island, which would now be saved from the worst of the severe weather event, but it was still likely to do some serious damage to the already storm-damaged Tairāwhiti region.

Gisborne and Hawke's Bay would probably cop the worst of Fili with wind, rain and higher waves expected.

North of Napier to Gisborne could cop 200 to 300mm of rain by late Wednesday to midnight on Thursday.

"That amount of rain in a short period of time - it won't take long for those soils to get saturated so you really have to worry about slips and flooding in that region," Brandolino told RNZ.

There could also be some "really incredible" wind gusts in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne regions from late tomorrow morning. Winds could gust well over 110km/h to 120km/h.

"You combine that with the wet ground. Things like trees coming down, power cuts, slips - it all becomes a distinct possibility - if not a reality, unfortunately."