A Mangawhai woman has described the terrifying moment a slip came down on the Brynderwyn Hills, narrowly missing her car and two others.
Mel Stewart was driving from Whangārei to Mangawhai on State Highway 1 over the Brynderwyns in “unbelievable” weather conditions when the near miss occurred about 1pm.
“There was like rivers over the road. And then as you came … down into the Brynderwyns, you could just see that waterfall – that’s on the left-hand side going down – that was pouring out,” she said.
“Then you could see the rubble coming out, and then just as we came around the corner, the whole tree just came flooding down the hill and then just sprawled all over the road.”
She was the third car back from the slip.
“I was already travelling at about 20km/h anyway … I wasn’t travelling very fast, but if we were going any faster, it would have either hit the two cars in front of me, and definitely me.”
Her first reaction was to laugh, Stewart said.
“Now that I’ve kind of pulled over to the side of the road, [I’ve] taken a bit of a deep breath and gone, ‘Wow, that actually just happened in front of me’.”
Road workers at the intersection of State Highways 1 and 12 – about 2km from the slip – came to help and cleared the slip quickly, she said.
Both lanes were closed, forcing motorists on a lengthy detour, but the highway has since reopened to one lane.
The route has been beset with slips and closures over the last couple of years, with extensive remedial works to keep the highway open.
The notorious stretch of SH1 closed less than two weeks ago during the last bout of bad weather.
The southern side of SH1 over the Brynderwyn Hills was down to one lane for seven hours after a slip.
Businesses at the time said slips on the Brynderwyns had them concerned they would have to put up with many more years of uncertainty before a four-lane alternative solution is delivered.
A group of motorists praised as “legends armed with shovels” were also caught on camera in the pouring rain clearing today’s slip.
The video, uploaded to Facebook, showed a handful of men using spades to remove a large dirt pile from the main route into Northland.
Some of the group can be seen pulling large tree roots off the state highway amid a heavy downpour.
Nicola Morrison, the motorist who captured the “legends” in action, said the man videoed with a spade had been in the queue of traffic backed up by the slip.
He just walked on up and started moving the dirt, she said.
“Others were doing it by hand.”
Another man kitted out with a shovel soon turned up to help.
“Two hardy souls just doing the thing,” she said.
Shortly before 5pm, NZTA announced SH11 had closed at the intersection with Waikare Rd in Kawakawa because of flooding.
“It is currently low tide, so flooding is expected to worsen here and the road is unlikely to reopen for some time.”
A detour via SH1 and SH10 was available but would add 20 minutes to people’s journey times.
As of 5.30pm, the Whangārei District Council had reported four road closures because of flooding.
Both the Far North and Kaipara District councils had no roads listed as closed but Kaipara warned drivers of surface flooding and hazards.
“Please only travel if you need to and take extra care, especially now that we are heading into the evening hours and it’s getting dark.”
Moerewa local Roddy Pihema had been busy checking drains and culverts in the area today.
Many of the residential streets in Far North settlement were flooded, and the front lawns of some homes had been completely submerged.
According to MetService’s rain radar, Kaikohe received 71mm of rain overnight and Ōhaeawai received 54mm, including a downpour where 22mm fell in one hour.
In Ruakākā, swells of 4.3m were recorded at Marsden Point this morning.
Hundreds of Northlanders lost power to their homes during the day as trees and strong winds damaged power lines.
All 965 power outages reported in the Top Energy network this morning have been resolved.
Northpower had also reported hundreds of outages today – most of which were remedied by the afternoon.
Headed into the evening, 68 properties in Spinnaker Lane, Mangawhai, were without power. Northpower said at 5pm that field staff were on their way to investigate.
MetService reported the strongest wind gust as being 120km/h at Marsden Point, recorded at 9.30am.
The strong winds buffeting the area caused a piece of sheeting to come off a decommissioned holding tank by Mair Rd in Ruakākā.
Channel Infrastructure communications manager Laura Malcom said there had been no risk to the public.
Whangārei Airport recorded a gust of 85km/h. Average gusts had hovered around 80-85km/h.
Civil Defence Northland warned rain rates of 25 to 40mm an hour could still fall overnight as the “dynamic weather event” continued.
“Many rivers across the district are running high, with several still rising due to the continued heavy rain.
“While most remain contained, localised flooding is possible in some areas, causing further road closures and hazardous driving conditions,” Civil Defence Northland said.
MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino said conditions were expected to ease but some showers were possible tomorrow.
There was a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon for western areas and small hail was also possible.
She advised Northlanders to keep an eye on the MetService website for updates.
An orange heavy rain warning has been issued by MetService for areas southeast of Tākou Bay at Kerikeri until 10pm.
All of Northland was under a severe thunderstorm watch until 6pm.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.