Trees buffeted about by high winds at Gisborne's Rose Garden next to the Gisborne District Council building.

Success - slightly damp, but nonetheless a whole picnic table. The Andrew family rescued their furniture from the river's clutches and loaded it onto a ute to return to its rightful home.

The Andrew family of Gisborne attempt to rescue their picnic table from the swollen Taruheru River from the Derby St footbridge.

Motorists are reportedly stranded on State Highway 2 as two flooding flashpoints trap them on the road.

Police say they are unsure of the number of vehicles caught by the floodwaters, but they are making their way into isolated rural areas to check on and evacuate motorists if necessary.

"At this stage it has stopped raining in the area and it looks like there may be a break in the weather," Senior Sergeant Ross Smith said.

GISBORNE DISTRICT COUNCIL Debris gathers in a rapidly swelling river under the Gladstone Rd bridge, Gisborne.

"But we need to check on these people to make sure they are alright and see if the highway is now passable."

SH2 has been closed in at least two places – between Napier and Wairoa and between Ormond and Opotiki.

The roads were expected to be closed until being reviewed at 6am on Tuesday morning.

Intense flooding in Te Karaka, a small settlement 30km northwest of Gisborne, closed the road north and south of the settlement around lunchtime Monday.

There is also significant surface flooding throughout the Gisborne city and surrounding rural areas.

The Gladstone Rd bridge was also closed due to debris from the floodwaters and will not be reopened until a structural engineer checked its safety in the morning.

While the floodwaters were expected to recede on Monday evening, the sludge that would remain would be a significant risk to drivers, Gisborne Civil Defence controller Peter Higgs said.

"Contractors have been asked to move their equipment in to help clear the sludge but road conditions will remain dangerous."

The Wharekopae Road and roads in the Ngatapa area would also remain closed.

Motorists were advised to delay all travel on the highway overnight. The road would be reassessed in the morning.

Wairoa District Council spokesman Kitea Tipuna said there had been 20 road closures due to slips, flooding, and logs being washed up by the sea or rivers.

The storm had had a similar impact to Cyclone Pam which hit the area in March.

"Pam was fast and hard. This is just continual. If it keeps on like this we will get very concerned," he said.

The MetService said 92mm had fallen at Wairoa airport in the 24 hours to 4pm on Monday.

State Highway 2 was also closed from Opotiki to Gisborne around lunch time on Monday after heavy rains submerged the road in the East Coast settlement of Te Karaka.

Civil Defence authorities considered evacuating residents from the area, with fears the situation may worsen with more rain expected throughout the day. Delays of up to four hours are expected as the Waipaoa River continues to rise, with levels expected to hit 8 metres at 11pm . Another 50 to 70mm of rain is likely in the ranges through to 6pm Monday night with 20 to 40mm elsewhere. State Highway 35 was closed north of Wainui Beach, about 8km east of Gisborne, just before 9am. Gladstone Rd Bridge was also closed, with a detour in place.

Gisborne airport received 114mm of rain in the 24 hours to midday Monday. The average September rainfall at the airport is just 76mm.

LOCAL REACTION TO THE STORM

Gisborne resident Rebecca Houia said it was the worst deluge she had seen in the nine years she had lived there.

She had gone to work on Monday morning then received a call from a neighbour that one of her two kayaks was floating off down the Taruheru River that runs past her backyard.

She arrived home to find the river had burst its banks and the water level had risen up to her laundry hanging on the washing line.

Houia said she did not use the kayak to get to it - instead braving the "freezing" thigh-deep water and wading in to retrieve her laundry.

She was not the only Gisborne resident to refuse to let the water claim her possessions. Photos showed the Andrew family rescuing their escaped picnic table from the swollen Taruheru by winching it from the river onto the Derby St footbridge. Houia said the weather had begun to improve in central Gisborne about 1.30pm Monday. "It's beautiful, the sun is coming out."

Other residents took to social media to post pictures and video of the extreme flooding.

"Gisborne's river is now flooding ....Not a good day for one's washing ....... #nz #lovegisborne," Andre Hock wrote.

"It's pretty wild in Gizzy at the moment #gisborne #floods #extremeweather," journalist Finn Rainger said.

Wright's Vineyard and Winery in Manutuke posted multiple pictures of flooded paddocks, writing "What a dilemma!" Owner Geoff Wright said he was stuck at work after his driveway had become flooded. Earlier in the day he was called to pick up children from Ormond Kindergarten and Ormond School after they closed due to concerns about the flood banks. "It's pretty hazardous, there's trees on the road ... it's been bucketing down," he said. Wright owns 18 hectares (45 acres) of land in Ormond, just north of Gisborne, and Manutuke, just west.

He said some of his plants would be under water and would require a bit of clean up, but he was more concerned for his farmer neighbours who, after expecting a dry spring and summer, had planted crops like maize and corn.

He said there was run-off from topsoil visible in the flood waters around his property.

Gisborne-based Federated farmers meat and fibre vice-chairperson Sandra Faulknor said the rain would have caused some stock losses in the hill country where lambing was still underway.

She said the area had been in need of rain and most farmers would be pleased.

"The farmers I've spoken to have been talking about between 120mm to 200mm in the last 24 hours. That's huge. It should drain quite quickly though. The water table was so low this will be a replenishment more than an overflow," she said.

"It was pretty wet for a while. It'd have been very unpleasant if you were a young lamb or a young calf," Faulknor said.

"Hopefully the losses won't be too bad, but certainly there would have been some lamb losses during the night in the hills where they're still lambing. Unfortunately it seems every spring somebody somewhere gets caught out by the weather. It's the nature of living on an island unfortunately," she said.

Gisborne's Kaiti School was closed "due to flooding at the back of the school" and Tolaga Bay Area School, about 55km up the coast from Gisborne, was also closed on Monday after 17 staff were unable to get to work due to flooding. Te Karaka Area School, about 30km north of the city, remained open but was encouraging parents to keep students at home. "It is extremely wet, there is surface flooding everywhere and we feel students would be safer at home for the day," Te Karaka School said on its Facebook page. Civil Defence said surface flooding has been reported across wide areas of the district with trees down in many places.

Speed restrictions were put in place at Makorori on Sunday night due to surface flooding in the area, and roading crews were out around the district keeping an eye on the situation.

Tologa Bay was hit by rough weather and flooding.

On Monday morning, a car was swamped by floodwaters at Rototahi, south of Tolaga Bay, and a bus, with no children on board, was stuck at the top of the Waimata Valley. The Hikuwai River north of Tolaga Bay was close to 8 metres at 8am and rising at one metre an hour. SH35 becomes flooded when the river reaches 12m. The river is forecast to peak at about 9m at around midday.

Gisborne Civil Defence Emergency Manager Louise Bennett said the area north of Tolaga Bay had received more rain than initially forecast. Since 9am Sunday, the region had experienced significant rainfall with the highest at Pakarae (146mm), Whatatutu (140mm), Waerenga a Kuri (122mm), and Goodwins on the Waimata River (116mm).

Residents and farmers in the worst affected areas had been advised of rising river levels. Manhole covers had "overtopped" in parts of Gisborne and on Sunday night, council contractors opened discharge valves to release diluted wastewater to the Taruheru, Waimata and Turanganui rivers from the city sewer network. The council said this was done to avoid sewerage flowing back onto private property.

OTHER REGIONS AFFECTED

The MetService also issued a severe weather watch for Wellington, Wairarapa and Marlborough;

The NZ Transport Agency advised motorists, pedestrians and cyclists take extra care as rain and winds get stronger this afternoon.

The agency recommended motorists leave a wide berth for cyclists, also saying that cyclists should leave their bikes and work and take public transport home instead if possible.

Wellington City Council urged drivers to watch out for the possibility of slips on narrower and twister roads.

Around 10mm of rain is forecast for the capital this evening, with more to come overnight and southerly gales threatening to become severe in the city and Kapiti Coast until Tuesday morning.

Snow is also expected on the Desert Road (State Highway 1) Monday evening, 5 to 10cm of snow predicted at the summit.

The Napier-Taupo Road (State Highway 5) also has a warning for sleet turning to snow this evening.