Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said State Highways 2 and 35 have been closed north of Gisborne as flooding and slips strike the region.
In a Facebook post late this morning the agency said the major closures were on SH2 between Matawi and Ormond, and SH35 between Gisborne and Ruatoria.
At present, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said 73 roads were damaged or closed, with contractors inspecting them at present.
Gisborne residents are being asked to reduce their water use, with heavy rain in the region bringing its wastewater system to capacity.
In a statement this morning, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Controller David Wilson said the city's pipes are overwhelmed with a "high" volume of water, thanks to high tide in the region.
Residents are being asked not to flush toilets or do any loads of washing until later on today - “To avoid overflow of sewage into private properties".
The region is currently being bombarded by heavy rain and is currently under a red heavy rain warning which has caused roads to close due to slips.
MetService this morning tweeted that the region has received so much rainfall in the last seven days, "it is well above our colour scale!"
The highest accumulations were 479.6mm at Raukumara, 440.5mm at Mata Bridge and 430.8mm at Puketawa, MetService's colour-based scale maxing out at around 200mm.
Wilson said that while less rain fell overnight, the sustained downpour has made saturation levels in the soil very high.
“We’re asking everyone to prepare for more rain to come today and please stay off our roads as they are very fragile.
“We’ve had more slips around Whataupoko overnight, and concrete bollards have been installed to stabilise some sections.
“If you’re on a hilly section, please check your land and contact us if you notice any cracks, creaking noises, doors sticking in your home or retaining walls leaning.”
As of 11am, 35 families were sheltering in evacuation centres.
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