A flooded creek near Kaeo became a death trap for one man during Northland's wetter than normal September.
The man died on September 25 when torrential rain caused rivers and streams to swell as Northland experienced more rain than normal for the month while some towns had some of their highest temperatures for the month.
The heavy rain also swept debris and logs from some Northland forestry operations into rivers and streams and across farmland.
The climate summary for September, issued by the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), said September was a wet month for the North Island and warm almost everywhere, with a nationwide average temperature of 11C, 0.43C above the average for the month.
Whangarei recorded its highest September mean minimum air temperature since records began in the city in 1967 of 10.7C, 1.3C above the September norm.