Uawa Civil Defence is expecting Tolaga Bay communities to be cut off again and roads to continue crumbling as another onslaught of wet weather hits this afternoon.

A state of emergency remains in Tairāwhiti following Cyclone Hale, with MetService forecasting heavy rain north of Tolaga Bay today and Thursday.

MetService forecasts 70-90mm of rain for Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay from 3pm today until 9am on Thursday.

Periods of heavy rain are also forecast for Gisborne and south of Tolaga Bay from 6pm today until tomorrow morning which MetService said may approach warning criteria.

Area manager Greg Shelton says residents should be ready to evacuate before access was cut off.

"The ground can't take much more, the roads certainly aren't going to take much more, and all the mud and silt - if you get more rain on top of that it just turns to a horrible mess again.

"People want to get on with their lives, they want to clear things away but more rain, it just makes it ugly again."

The community was well-prepared with stocks of essential supplies - and a plan to deliver them if communities were isolated, says Shelton.

The forecast doesn't look as bad as last week's battering, he says.

Civil Defence staff are monitoring the forecast peak rainfall intensities for the Hikuwai River, which is predicted to reach 5m.

Hikuwai River peaked at 13.5m last week after Cyclone Hale passed through the region.

Gisborne District Council has 26 roads in the region closed or partially closed due to weather-related issues such as slips and washouts, with another nine only able to be used by four-wheel drive vehicles.

-RNZ.