Flood room status
Flood Room is monitoring. For information on current river levels, flows and rainfall accumulations, please visit our Environmental Data Hub.
What the status levels mean
Flood Room is monitoring
Updated at 8.30pm on Friday, 23 January 2026
Situation
With Waikato Regional Council catchment zones now moved from response to recovery, Flood Room has de-escalated to Monitoring.
Based on our records, this week's rain event has been more significant than Cyclone Gabrielle. While flooding and river levels have receded, potentiation impacts form the rain will continue with saturated catchments causing increased land slip susceptibility.
There is now a MetService Strong Wind Watch in place for Saturday afternoon which includes the Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Hamilton. With the combination of wind and further localised rain over the weekend, all parts of the region that would normally experience land instability may be affected, but the risk of landslides remains much greater on the Coromandel Peninsula which has the potential to impact property and roading.
A large, sustained wave event for the region's west coast, associated with the forecast strong westerly winds from Saturday, has the potential for coastal erosion and inundation of low-lying areas.
Coastal inundation (wave overtopping) may also occur along low-lying areas of the south-east Firth of Thames coasts until early morning on Sunday. The prolonged wave event on the Coromandel east coast may have caused coastal erosion along some beaches.
Meanwhile, agencies are continuing to respond to the impacts of this week's sustained heavy rain and wind.
With roads compromised due to impacts from flooding, debris and slips, please keep up to date with the latest roading information from the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, and local civil defence (Thames-Coromandel District Council and Hauraki District Council).
The Regional Flood Response team continues to monitor forecasts and flood and drainage infrastructure, as well as liaise closely with civil defence, local councils and other agencies.
Please keep up to date with the current MetService weather forecasts and messages from local civil defence. The MetService weather app will notify you of severe weather alerts for your area.
Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.
MetService forecast
Strong Wind Watch (Yellow) - Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato north of Hamilton and Bay of Plenty about and north of Tauranga
A persistent, complex low east of New Zealand brings heavy rain and showers to the far south, also strong winds to the southeast of the South Island and parts of the North Island.
Period: 7 hours from 10am Saturday to 5pm Saturday
Forecast: Westerly winds may approach severe gale in exposed places. Moderate chance of upgrading to a Warning.
Issued: 8.17pm Friday
Next Update: 10am Saturday
Thunderstorms
There are no Thunderstorm Watches or Warnings for the Waikato region. However, there is always a possibility severe thunderstorm Watches or Warnings may be issued by MetService at short notice so please be alert for and act on these without hesitation – do not wait for further analysis by Waikato Regional Council. For information on preparing for and keeping safe during a storm, see the National Emergency Management Agency's Get Ready website.
Likely/potential Impacts
Rivers and lakes
Most streams and rivers are now receding, but may remain above expected normal levels for 36-48 hours after the event. Do not enter floodwater – on foot or in vehicles.
Coromandel and Waihou/Piako Zones have moved from flood response to recovery.
Based on our records, the Ohinemuri River at Karangahake reached 17.6m during Cyclone Gabrielle. It peaked at 17.9m just before 1am today. That means it got 0.3m higher, which might not sound a lot but in terms of flow, this morning it was 870 cubic metres per second vs 731 cumecs during Gabrielle.
The Regional Flood Response team is continuing to closely monitor river levels.
- Ohinemuri River (through Karangahake Gorge and at Paeroa) is receding.
- Kauaeranga River (at Thames) is receding.
- Tairua River (at the Morrisons Rd Bridge) is receding
- Waihou River is receding.
Please keep up to date with information from the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, and local civil defence (Thames-Coromandel District Council and Hauraki District Council).
Wind
A Strong Wind Watch is in place for the Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Hamilton for Saturday from 12 noon to 5pm.
Please keep up to date with information from your local power provider, the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and local civil defence.
Coastal impacts
Firth of Thames
Fresh to strong gales resulting in moderate to high waves. The wind direction changed and possible wave splash/over topping of low-lying areas along the south-eastern Firth of Thames coast at high tides until Sunday. High water levels and fresh gales will persist for the remainder of the week.
Coromandel Peninsula east coast
Sustained combination of strong offshore fresh gale winds, elevated water levels, and diminishing waves for most of this week.
West coast of region
Swell event (high energy waves) forecast from Saturday and into Sunday, along with elevated water levels. Potential for coastal erosion and inundation of low-lying areas. Caution for high water levels during high tides. This wave event is big, even for the west coast, with forecast swell over 5 metres and maximum wave height over 10 metres possible.
Peak waves are due around high tide Saturday (2pm), and will slowly recede over the following two days. The potential for coastal erosion and inundation will present over high tide periods from Saturday 2pm to possible Monday. Inundation levels with harbour areas close to the entrances may be close to king tide levels, but may include ‘surges’ that could raise water levels for short periods.
The wave event may exacerbate areas already prone to coastal erosion, such as Port Waikato and Mōkau. Other areas along the west coast may also see erosion and inundation impacts.
Land instability
All parts of the region that would normally experience land instability may be affected by rainfall about the hill country and ranges, but the risk remains much greater on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Soils around the Coromandel have received significant rainfall over the last 48 hours on top of previous showers throughout the past week. Strong winds coming from the opposite direction to normally prevailing wind increases the risk of tree fall, uprooting and destabilisation of saturated soils. The risk of landslides is already heightened and will rise even further as soil water continues to increase. We expect many shallow landslides to occur around the Thames-Coromandel District, but particularly in the northern, central and eastern peninsula, and it is also possible deeper seated, larger landslides will activate as water continues to move through the ground.
Whilst it is not possible to predict exactly where or when landslides will occur, properties and infrastructure, including roads on or near steep slopes, cuttings or cliffs, are naturally most at risk. People in the area should remain vigilant for early warning signs of earth movement.
Road users should plan ahead and keep up to date with the latest from their local council and the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi. Our advice is to avoid travel unless absolutely essential. The risk does not disappear once the rain has stopped and land instability can continue for many days after the event.
What we're doing
Waikato Regional Council flood and drainage schemes
All flood and drainage infrastructure is working as it should. Local flood response staff continue to monitor forecasts and assets to ensure a timely response, should it be required.
Please note, drainage schemes will take time to return to the pre-event conditions following rainfall. Rest assured our local operations staff are monitoring.
Waikato Regional Council telemetry
Our telemetry network continues to provide real-time data on rainfall and river levels and is monitored 24/7 by our Regional Flood Response team. Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.
Next update
Flood Room will be updated by 1pm on Saturday, or earlier if conditions change or weather alerts impacting our region are issued.
New Zealand Flood Pics
New Zealand Flood Pics is a photographic archive of flooding for Aotearoa New Zealand which is currently hosted by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It's free for anybody to upload or download flood photographs and your contributions are welcomed.
