Northland appears to have escaped with little damage reported after Cyclone Vaianu bore down on the region overnight.
However, local leaders and emergency services are warning Northlanders to take care as gale-force winds are expected today.
Whangārei District Council chief executive Simon Weston said having the cyclone come through late at night was helpful as motorists weren’t on the roads.
Although there wasn’t as much damage as previous events, Weston was conscious of winds yet to batter the district.
“With sodden soils and heavy winds, there is still a risk of tree-falls and an elevated risk of land-slips near roads.”
Heavy rain has closed 10 roads in Whangārei, with more partially closed or accessible by 4WD-only. The council has published a live map of road closures on its website.
Power remains out to 12 Northpower customers at Houto Rd, after a line was found down.
Weston said the northeast coast was vulnerable, speaking about Kaiikanui Rd, which was impassable this morning because of flooding.
The road closure meant the Ōakura coast had been cut off. Access to the area has been hampered since a large slip closed Russell Rd after a storm in January.
“I know the roading crews are doing everything they can to keep it open, but it is a real challenge ... I feel for the communities that have to use that particular road,” Weston said.
Floodwaters have since receded and Kaiikanui Rd has reopened.
Weston said the district’s stormwater systems were running at full capacity.
Swollen waterway levels are expected to slowly recede until high tide about 3pm after which they will recede more rapidly.
He urged residents across the district to stay at home and “sit it out”.
“No doubt there will be more slips and more trees coming down later today, and it’d probably be best to stay put, let our contractors clear the roads to try and make it as safe as possible.”
South-westerly gales are still forecast as the cyclone’s centre moves southeast away from the region.
MetService has lifted the heavy rain warning for Northland as of 9am. An orange wind warning is still in place.
Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group spokesman Zachary Woods said though the warning levels had eased, “that doesn’t mean it’s going to stop raining”.
“There are still showers forecast for the rest of the day.
“The wind warnings will continue till 3pm with southwesterly gales of up to 120km/h.”
MetService meteorologist Braydon White said the strongest winds so far had been at Cape Rēinga, 110km/h, while Kaitāia has had wind gusts of up to 65km/h.
Kerikeri had a wind gust of 75km/h at around 10pm, while most of the night winds were around 35km/h.
The wave buoy off the Bay of Islands coast recorded a maximum height of 10.8m yesterday afternoon.
The highest rainfall in Northland was in Whangārei, which copped 90mm rain in the last 12 hours.
Maungatūroto had 80mm of rain, Whananaki had 53mm, and Dargaville and Kerikeri both had 42mm.
The Pipiwai | Kaikou Civil Defence Team has reported “rivers are running very high this morning with kohu [mist] taupoki [sitting over] across the valley”.
“Our team has been out checking on whānau. We’re advising everyone to stay safe and stay home where possible.”
Tikipunga resident Teina Wells-Smith went to Whangārei Falls this morning to see the extent of the flooding.
“It’s not as bad as it was for [Cyclone] Gabrielle, so I think we’re really lucky.”
He said recent weather events had been a lot for his whānau on the northeast coast.
Wells-Smith, a teacher, said many school children hadn’t been able to get to school or had to stay with other whānau so they could.
People had a lot of time to prepare this time around, he said.
" ... It might not of been as big, but if it had been we would’ve been ready, I think.”
Whangārei resident Amy England took her son to Whangārei Falls to show him the power behind the storm.
" ... I think also that we need to get our kids out here to show them about what can happen overnight with weather and damages and keeping safe.”
England has seen several weather events in the five years she has lived in Tikipunga.
“I thought this would be more damage, but I think this has been pretty mild compared to what it was meant to be like.”
England was meant to go to a sports event last night in Auckland but went home because of the warnings, which she praised.
“For me, to get those warnings so early is preparing me ... I’ve got kids and I don’t have a 4WD.
“I also think that we are just so lucky to be able to have the technology these days that tells us that, hang on, in a week or so, we’re having a storm come through.”
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said it had been “pretty quiet” in his district so far, apart from power outages in the southeastern Bay of Islands and the Hokianga.
There are now 150 Top Energy customers without power, down from 501 earlier today and 700 this morning.
The affected areas are at Horeke, Motukaraka, Opononi and Pawarenga.
Tepania said “all in all we’re all right”.
The council emergency centre was still operating this afternoon.
“Not much had come through from Civil Defence that we didn’t already know about”, Tepania said.
“A few roofs in Whangaroa had come off in the storm but otherwise no-one had to be pulled from homes.
“About 40 to 50 families were evacuated and took shelter at marae or community halls which were opened last night.”
Tepania said the council was still aware of the cyclone’s tail winds this afternoon and was being cautious.
“We learned our lesson from Cyclone Gabrielle, the tail winds hit the Hokianga quite badly, so we’re cautious about that and actively monitoring that.
“But it looks like it’ll be ok. If all goes to plan we’ll pair down our emergency centre to a skeleton crew.
“Otherwise it’s looking alright.”
Civil Defence Northland said six homes in Kerikeri were proactively evacuated yesterday evening because of the potential risk of nearby trees falling from wind gusts.
The homes were on Wendywood Lane, close to a stand of large redwood trees.
“The majority of residents, along with their pets, were accommodated with friends and family.”
Northland based fishing personality Matt Watson said the swells had eased slightly from last night’s highs of around 5.5m.
Watson, who lives on the waterfront on the Purerua peninsula in the Bay of Islands, said there was a bit of plant damage “from the wind bashing them up a bit”.
However, he’s seen it a lot worse in earlier storms.
“The lawn is mostly still there; I’ll take the tractor down soon and remove the debris.
“A year ago Cyclone Tam was a lot worse, it was wiped out completely.
“Comparatively, we’ve got off lightly here ... But with each cyclone we get a bit more resilient and so does the land.”
Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen said his district had come through Cyclone Vaianu “pretty well”.
“There’s been a bit of surface flooding, but otherwise we haven’t seen any significant issues in the district so far.”
However, Larsen was conscious of the ongoing strong winds.
“We still need people to stay cautious as the weather system continues through today,” he said.
Although Campbells Park Christian Camp had been stood down as a welfare centre, the council still wanted people to reach out if they needed welfare help on 09 439 111.
Larsen was impressed with the work on the ground through his council and wider regional collaboration.
“Our teams have done an excellent job through the Kaipara, and the co-ordination of Civil Defence throughout the whole of Northland has been outstanding, so I think we’re a really great team there, and it stands us in good stead for the future.”
Larsen said there had been a “bit of practice” over the last few years when it came to weather events.
“Our Civil Defence staff are really well-trained and really committed to their work, and so I think that’s just a result of that culture being embedded through our councils.”
Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group spokesman Zachary Woods thanked local communities for how prepared they were.
“That’s made a big difference.”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said overnight that there were no instances of rescues from people driving through floodwaters.
“While we’re not completely out of the woods yet, people should keep an eye out for hazards, take care, and check the conditions and road closures.
“If you are travelling be cautious – there could still be risks.”
Northland remains under a region-wide state of emergency, declared on Friday to unlock additional powers particularly around evacuations.