Access restored between Auckland and Northland following slips

Access between Northland and Auckland has been restored, following “intense” downpours causing surface flooding and slips.

The two regions, in particular the lower Northland and upper Auckland areas, were hit by a deluge on Friday evening.

There was no access between the regions due to a slip on SH1 near Topuni, and multiple road closures in Mangawhai, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said.

Are you affected? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz.

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On Saturday about 8am it announced SH1 is now open “under caution”, however motorists are asked to delay their journeys or use detour routes. SH1 remains closed between Brynderwyn and Waipu.

“Although the road is open, there will be major delays as the crew work on the road. Please avoid traveling on the road if possible and rethink your travel plans.

“If you do need to travel, please drive to the conditions, obey the temporary speed limits and be patient with the crews on the road and other drivers.”

Light vehicles may detour via SH12 and Paparoa-Oakleigh Rd to Whangārei, while heavy vehicles should use SH12 and SH14 between Brynderwyn and Whangārei via Dargaville.

Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Josh Pennefather said firefighters responded to 112 weather related calls in lower Northland area overnight.

The majority of the calls outs were before midnight.

There were 12 incidents where people needed rescuing from flood water, most of whom were in their vehicles.

This included a group of people driving in Dairy Flat, who had to be rescued from their cars by boats because of rising floodwaters.

There were power outages across the Auckland region on Friday night, with most of Waiheke also in the dark, and lightning disrupted flights at Auckland Airport.

Mangawhai, about 120km north of Auckland, was also badly hit, with 300mm of rain recorded in the seven hours until 5pm on Friday.

“She’s carnage up here,” said resident Shane Whitmore.

MetService meteorologist Alex Holden said on Saturday there was a “lot of disparity” regarding rain fall across Auckland overnight, with areas recording between 15mm-75mm.

Waiheke Island saw the most rain with 76mm in the 12 hours after 7.30pm, with a torrential downpour just shy of 30mm in an hour around 8pm.

For the same period, about 40mm of rain fell near the Auckland-Northland border, which was considered heavy.

Holden said Auckland and Northland were due a brief reprieve from the rain until Monday, when another rain band arrived from the north.

It’s not clear yet how heavy this rain will be.

Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne

Meanwhile, heavy showers and thunderstorms were likely to affect the Bay of Plenty, near the coast and Kaimai range. Stuff has had multiple reports of a tornado at Waihi Beach on Saturday morning, and is seeking to confirm them.

Between 7am and 11am Saturday heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms were possible between Waihi and Opotiki, with possible localised downpours of 20-35mm an hour.

Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Hawke’s Bay and were in place overnight for Gisborne and the Coromandel Peninsula – all areas recently affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. A thunderstorm watch is in place for Hawke’s Bay.

For Hawke’s Bay, during the 17 hours to 1pm Saturday, a further 70mm to 120mm of rain was forecast for the ranges north of Hastings, including Esk Valley and the Wairoa District. Other areas would receive 30mm to 60mm of rain.

MetService will provide an update by 9am.

Gisborne was forecast to get 40mm to 60mm of rain between 8pm Friday and 6am Saturday, with some areas in line for up to 100m of rain or more. Thunderstorms were possible.

In the Waikato, Coromandel had been warned to expect 50mm to 80mm of rain up to 3am on Saturday, with up to 140mm in some areas.

On Saturday morning a thunderstorm warning was in place for Hauraki and western Bay of Plenty. At 7.15am MetService had detected thunderstorms at Waihi beach. They were moving south toward Katikati.

Evacuations in Esk Valley

In Hawke’s Bay, precautionary evacuations in Esk Valley were ordered on Friday, although most of the houses in the evacuation zone were already empty following the cyclone.

Neville Reilly, duty controller of Hawke’s Bay’s Emergency Management said residents of another 26 houses evacuated voluntarily on Friday afternoon.

Civil defence centres were open in Napier, Flaxmere and Pōrangahau to accommodate anyone who could not stay with whānau or friends, and a centre was ready to open in Waipawa if needed overnight.

Roadblocks were set up around the evacuated area, to ensure properties were secure while residents were evacuated.

‘We’re not out of the woods yet’

On Friday night there were about 40 to 50 people at the Mangawhai Golf Course emergency shelter, although people were getting placed in private homes in Mangawhai and none were expected to stay the night at the shelter.

Councillor Mike Howard said the “torrential” rain was the worst he had seen in 23 years living in Mangawhai.

Elsewhere in Northland, Kaipara District Council said 30 children were stranded at Kaiwaka Primary, and around 40 at Otamatea High on Friday night.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown offered his support to the mayor of Kaipara, Craig Jepson, following the severe flooding at Mangawhai.

Brown said on Friday evening he had been briefed by the duty controller at the Auckland Emergency Management Centre.

He said he would remain focused on the situation throughout the night.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.

“Remember that even if the rain dies down, there could be more to come and surface flooding will take some time to subside.”

Saturday in Central Auckland is forecast to be much calmer than Friday, with early showers, possibly heavy, becoming isolated as fine breaks develop.

There would be periods of rain on Saturday, but they would not be as intense as on Friday.

Saturday also marks the final of Te Matatini at Eden Park, after the world’s biggest kapa haka event was hit by rain on Friday.