Photo: Supplied/NZTA
State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge is expected to remain closed for several weeks.
A rescue was launched on Friday after extensive damage, caused by heavy rain, left more than 40 people stranded.
More than 320 millimetres of rain fell within 48 hours, double the area's January average.
That turned gullies into waterfalls, overwhelmed and blocked culverts, and triggered widespread debris flows across the road.
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