State Highway 11 at Paihia - also known as Marsden Rd - remains closed due to coastal inundation which has undermined the road and the services underneath it.
Northland MP Grant McCallum said the storm damage is unacceptable both for tourism businesses and local residents and an urgent solution is needed to stop the ongoing closures.
Motorists are able to pass through Paihia with a small detour.
Far North District Council is urging all residents and businesses in Paihia, Waitangi and Ōpua to conserve water for the next 24 hours while a water main, exposed by the high waves, is repaired.
In other areas, roads and highways are beginning to reopen as the flooding subsides.
State Highway 1 at Hōreke, just south of the Mangamukas, reopened at 8.40pm on Thursday, after being closed for most of the day by flooding.
At about 10am on Thursday, the floodwaters trapped a man and his Mini, who was rescued by Fire and Emergency crews and police, said Northland group manager Graeme Quensell.
Police also helped rescue a person who fell down the riverbank on Princes Rd in Ruakākā at about 5.30pm on Thursday. The person was found uninjured and given a lift home.
The Mini trapped in floodwaters on Rangiahua Bridge, SH1 in Hōreke. Photo / Joe Marshall
Kaipara District Council is reporting road closures at Monteith Rd, Oparakau Rd and Waimatenui East Rd this morning, while caution is also needed on Sandy Beach Rd and Service Lane 4 Hokianga Rd.
The roads are expected to be open by the end of the day.
In Whangārei district, Finlayson Brook Rd is closed due to a number of underslips making the road unsafe.
There are also a number of partial closures due to flooding, with the roads open only to high-sides four-wheel-drives.
They are Russell Rd near Punaruku, Waiotu Block Rd and Otonga-Marua Rd.
Whangārei District Council also urges extreme caution for motorists driving in the area, as other roads may also be impacted by the storm.
Far North District Council was last night reporting five road closures due to flooding: Horeke Rd, Iwitaua Rd, Okaka Rd, Pukepoto Rd (Okaihau) and Waikare Rd - although they were likely to reopen as the flooding subsided.
Greenacres Drive was also closed by a fallen tree.
Whangārei resident Andy Mayhew says this tree fell on his Kauri driveway yesterday, cutting power, which was restored in the middle of the night. Photo / Andrew Mayhew
Mobile coverage returning as power restored
Cyclone Tam impacted cellphone reception in places across Northland on Thursday but that is being restored as power is restored to the cellphone towers, said Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen.
No cellphone towers were damaged by the weather but many ran out of battery back-up due to the long periods of extended power outages, he said.
On Friday, there were still 25 cellphone towers down in Northland at midday, from about 1000 towers across the region.
Brislen said Top Energy was prioritising power restoration to the towers and mobile generators were being taken to other sites.
One NZ said thousands of text messages were sent during the storm on its Satellite TXT service, a backup service which it enabled for the northern North Island yesterday during the cyclone recovery.
Ferris said rainfall of more than 100mm in 24 hours met the weather forecaster’s warning criteria.
Next in line was Kāeo with 91.2mm of rain for the same period, Whangārei with 85.3mm, Kerikeri with 72.8mm and Kaitāia with 56.8mm.
Floodwater near Umawera. Photo/ Matthew Davison
Readings from the Northland Regional Council’s rain data shows rainfall totals over the last seven days are high, such as 260mm at Whakakpara and 237mm at Glenbervie.
Ferris said there would still be some wind around Northland today.
A northerly breeze was expected as well as some heavier showers and thunderstorms intensifying this afternoon.
“The likely reality is that it is not going to affect everyone,” Ferris said.
“People just need to be aware, even if the day is broadly better than it has been.”
Ferris offered a glimmer of hope for weather-beaten Northland this Easter.
“There will be periods of wet weather through the weekend but also some gaps. If you’re heading out the door, take a jacket.”
Firefighters had responded to more than 120 weather-related callouts since midnight on Wednesday.
Most were trees and power lines that had toppled on to roads, but two were trees on houses.
Graeme Quensell, Fire and Emergency NZ group manager for Northland, said crews yesterday helped a Paihia family secure their belongings after the roof on their Panorama Ave house was blown off by high winds.
