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A search and rescue team is being deployed on Saturday after reports a man was swept away in floodwaters in Onewhero. It comes after police advised two men died in flooding in Wairau Valley on Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Police have advised of reports another man was found dead in a flooded car park in the Wairau Valley on Auckland’s North Shore overnight.
Police were called to the car park on Link Drive at about 12.30am.
It comes after police responded to a call for service where a man had been found dead in a flooded culvert in Wairau Valley earlier on Friday evening, ahead of a state of emergency being called in the region.
Inquiries into the circumstances of both these deaths are ongoing.
READ MORE:
* Auckland flooding: Where to get help, Civil Defence Centres set up
* Auckland weather: City braces for more rain as areas remain underwater
* Auckland airport still shut, no flights until at least noon, 200 kept on plane overnight
* Police investigating after body found in Wairau Valley, Auckland
Residents on Auckland’s North Shore are being urged to avoid floodwaters following a “heartbreaking” death at the height of Friday’s storm.
Police were notified at about 7.25pm after the body was seen by a member of the public, near Target Rd in Wairau Valley.
Luke Malpass/Stuff
PM Chris Hipkins speaks to media from the Beehive bunker overnight, after widespread flooding in Auckland.
It’s not yet confirmed whether the death was related to the severe weather event, although Wairau Valley was significantly affected as Auckland received record-breaking rainfall.
“It was one of the heaviest-hit flooded areas on the Shore,” says North Shore councillor Richard Hills.
“Shops and supermarkets and the evacuation centre behind the stadium were all underwater. It was significantly deep at the height of it.”
Hills said news of the death was “devastating”.
“I just give my thoughts to the person’s whānau and friends right now.”
Hills urged residents to avoid floodwaters.
Lawrence Smith/Stuff
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland after Friday saw an “extreme flood event”.
“We just ask everything to be safe, and be careful. Stay away from bodies of water, as it’s a moving situation and can be dangerous.”
Minister of emergency management Kieran McAnulty told RNZ said information was still being gathered regarding the death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.”
Formal identification of the body has not yet taken place.
A report was received at about 10.15pm that a man had been swept away by floodwaters in Onewhero, south of Auckland.
A search and rescue team search for the missing man on Saturday.
Meanwhile, police and other emergency services responded to a call where a landslide had brought down a house on Shore Rd in Remuera – one person remains unaccounted for.
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