Stream of devastation

19 Feb 2026 • By Jesse Wood

Pumps and diggers in action at Corcoran Rd on Monday.

Alan Livingston has been a Te Pahū resident for about 70 years and has never seen anything like the deluge of water and debris that descended from Mt Pirongia last weekend.

Pumps and diggers in action at Corcoran Rd on Monday. Photo: Jesse Wood

“We’ve had big floods and a bit of debris, but nothing like this before,” the former Waipā mayor said.

“This was exceptional due to a bow wave of water coming down plus logs, slash and sediment.”

Alan Livingston

The storms claimed the life Pirongia’s Brent Knowles on Friday after his car was submerged by floodwaters on State Highway 39 north of Ōtorohanga as he returned from a fishing trip.

Waipā mayor Mike Pettit declared a state of emergency on Saturday – the morning after Ōtorohanga had done the same.

It was also announced on Monday that a mayoral relief fund had been established in Waipā.

Pettit said recent events highlighted the growing challenges facing the district.

“Unfortunately, these events are not isolated. They follow a series of severe weather incidents in our district,” he said.

Mike Pettit

At Te Pahu, flooding beside the Corcoran Rd causeway across the Rangitukia Stream caused the 3.5m culvert to be blocked by logs and rocks, backing up the water and creating a lake.

“This created the risk that the causeway might fail and send a deluge down, hence the evacuation of 10 homes further down,” Livingston said.

Three streams with mountain catchments were affected – on Corcoran, Grey and Limeworks Loop roads.

“Elsewhere in the district, there was approximately 40mm of rain and nothing out of the ordinary occurred.”

Downer Group and Waipā District Council staff have been pumping water from the “lake” to relieve pressure on the causeway.

Te Awamutu News 19 February 2026

Livingston said Te Pahū residents could hear the rumble from the mountain, many thought it was a jet crash.

“Looking up Corcoran Rd, you can see where the slips are on the mountain. You can understand why logs have come down,” Livingston said.

“It’s just an extreme event. It was just the volume of water. It wasn’t a buildup – it just suddenly happened.

“The slips were at the top of the mountain, going all the way down.”

Livingston said many farmers had problems due to the deluge and the community pitched in to help fix cow sheds, clear debris off roads and other remedial work.

“People have been staying with other folk too. Don’t underestimate that local aspect. That community spirit and community mindedness certainly comes to the fore [in a situation like this].”

Downer Group and Waipā District Council staff working tirelessly to pump water trapped next to Corcoran Rd in Te Pahū on Monday. Photo: Jesse Wood

Slips on the mountain also washed away a water treatment plant supplying Pirongia.

The council has established an emergency supply from the Te Awamutu Treatment Plant, but water conservation is critical if the stopgap measures are to keep servicing Pirongia.

A joint Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre operating from the Ōtorohanga District Council offices is supporting Waipā and Ōtorohanga councils after States of Emergency were declared on the weekend.

Welfare support and property inspections continue in Wharepapa South, Kāwhia, Aotea and Corcoran roads as well as urban areas.

Pumps and diggers in action at Corcoran Rd on Monday. Photo: Jesse Wood

Corcoran Rd will be closed for some time. Scars from slips on Mt Pirongia can be seen in the distance. Photo: Jesse Wood

Pumps and diggers in action at Corcoran Rd on Monday. Photo: Jesse Wood

A joint Civil Defence Centre was established in Otorohanga.

As this edition went to press, Waikato Regional Council data showed the extent of rainfall in the last seven days – 103.5mm at its Te Kūiti Mangaokewa Stream monitoring site, 219.5mm on the Waipā River and Otewa, 120.5m at the Awaroa River-Hauturu Trig site and 172mm at Barton’s Corner Rd Bridge over the Puniu River near Te Awamutu.

The recording at the Puniu River at Tolley Rd, Ngaroma was the second highest in the region – 206.5.

Hamilton city recorded just 22.2mm – and that figure would not have been much different to what was recorded at Cambridge.