Thunderstorms and downpours caused flooding and power outages in Central Hawke's Bay yesterday evening.
MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for many areas of the North Island including Hawke's Bay and Tararua yesterday afternoon.
A Transpower spokesperson said she could confirm power was out to the Dannevirke area for about 20 minutes due to a lightning storm taking out a line at about 7.30pm.
Residents also reported outages in Waipukurau, Waipawa, Otane and Te Aute as well as surface flooding in Waipukurau at the same time.
MetService severe weather forecaster Andy Downs said humid conditions over the North Island caused thunderstorms to develop from Waikato southwards with some potentially becoming severe about southeast Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupo, eastern Taihape and Whanganui, inland Gisborne and Hawkes Bay and also northern Manawatu/Tararua District.