Whangārei Mitre 10 MEGA suffers flood damage estimated in the tens of thousands

The owner of Whangārei's Mitre 10 MEGA suspects the flood damage from last night's extensive rainfall will cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Described by MetService as a once-in-500-year storm, 220mm of rain fell on Whangārei last night causing major disruption today with slips and landslides that closed roads and limited water supplies.

Whangārei's Mitre 10 MEGA store on Porowini Avenue in Morningside was one of multiple businesses to be effected by the flooding. The extensive rainfall caused a creek, which ran behind the store, to overflow and flood the carpark with water going through the some areas of the building.

Store owner Peter Rogers-Jenkins drove up from Auckland last night after being told of the damage by an employee.

"It's a bit of mess really," Rogers-Jenkins said.

The store's garden centre and timber yard experienced significant damage. Bark from gardens in the carpark and along Porowini Avenue was strewn across the road and carpark area earlier this morning.

Rogers-Jenkins said cars driving along the road last night worsened the situation by pushing water from the road to the store's front doors. However, he said the flooding probably would have reached the store without them.

"One way or another, [the water] would have got in but the cars weren't helpful that's for sure."

Rogers-Jenkins suspected the cost of the damage would be in the tens of thousands, and he hoped insurance would cover most of the cost.

Staff had been hard at work this morning to clean the store and its carpark which saw the store reopen at about 11am.

The Columbus Coffee café, which was situated inside the Mitre 10 MEGA building, was also flooded with the floor covered by a couple of inches of water at one stage.

Café owner Craig Kennedy said he came into the café at about 6:30am today and had been cleaning up since. Kennedy said there was no real damage to the shop, just the mud, silt and bark which had come in from the neighbouring garden centre.

Kennedy believed the café would be back to business tomorrow.