Northland weather: Tragedy averted at Waipū Caves as tourists wake to car underwater

It was a narrow escape for tourists Omer Ronen and Tatjana Preuss at Waipū Caves yesterday after their car was caught in fast-flowing floodwaters. Photo/Supplied

A popular Northland campsite nearly became the scene of a tragedy when tourists Omer Ronen and Tatjana Preuss woke to find they were trapped in their car with floodwater rising around them.

The drama unfolded as strong winds and heavy rain battered Northland overnight on Thursday, dumping more than 100mm of rain on parts of the region in 24 hours.

Ronen and Tatjana, asleep in their car at the Waipū Caves Reserve campsite, woke on Friday morning to discover the vehicle was completely surrounded by water.

The belongings of the tourists are now soaked in floodwater. Photo/Supplied

Ronen had just bought the car and some travelling gear on Wednesday after being in New Zealand for a week.

A worried camper spotted the waterlogged vehicle parked at the lower end of the carpark and raised the alarm by tapping on their window.

As the pair woke, they could see water was already getting inside.

Ronen leaped into the front seat and drove off. Remembering their route in, he turned left.

But what he forgot was the river running alongside that part of the road and soon the car wouldn't budge.

"After a few seconds I feel like I can't move my front wheels," he said.

Then the engine stopped.

Ronen, holding his phone and keys aloft, clambered out a window into the chilly water after the car door wouldn't open.

The water was roughly waist high but "within minutes" had reached his chest.

Many of the items of Omer Ronen and Tatjana Preuss that were soaked in yesterday's flood are brand new, and hopefully salvageable. Photo/Supplied

"At some point I started literally swimming with my phone above my head," he said.

"I had both legs kicking and barely made it until I kicked a rock and was able to stand to catch my breath and get out of there."

Much of the pair's water soaked possessions were destroyed.

Farmer Braden Bailey and his wife, Savitri, had seen the pair from the window of their house.

As soon as Bailey saw the pair were in trouble, he rushed down to meet Ronen.

"He was yelling for help, he was quite beside himself," Bailey said.

The farmer then kayaked over to the car where Preuss was still inside. He told her Ronen was safe before taking her to safety herself.

"She was distraught," Bailey said.

Bailey and Savitri described the rapid flooding as if somebody had suddenly "put the plug in."

Whangārei was hit the hardest in the region with Puhipuhi recording 136mm of rainfall in the 24 hours up to 3pm yesterday. Followed by Ngunguru with 124.5mm, and 121mm in Water St, Whangārei.

By comparison Kaitaia recorded 21mm during the same period.

Northland Caledonian Pipe Band Major Bain McGregor at the band's Rawhiti St HQ in Whangārei on Friday - the second time in two years it has been surrounded by floodwaters. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

Back in the city centre, the Northland Caledonian Pipe Band will likely have to move out of its Whangārei building after the second threat of flooding in two years.

Band president Jill Mutch counted her lucky stars that the floodwaters stopped "a centimetre or two" from inundating the Rawhiti St building as it had earlier this year.

NorthCal Pipe Band Major Bain McGregor shows Whangārei Deputy Mayor Phil Halse flooding at the band's hall, which was earlier a foot above when this photograph was taken. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

The building, built in the 1980s, had no real issues with flooding until 2011 after the swamp off nearby Porowini Ave was filled in for a subdivision.

Mutch said the council had agreed to do mitigation work to stop it flooding again.

But things got much worse in July 2020 when around a metre of water flooded the building.

Thousands of dollars worth of damage occurred and the band's insurance excess increased to $10,000.

Mutch is worried that the excess would now rise to $40,000.

''We're a voluntary organisation and we can't afford those sort of sums if it floods again.''

Mutch said staying at the site may no longer be viable as there was now nowhere for the stormwater to go to as could no longer go to the draining swamp off Porowini Ave.

There was no way the building could be lifted due to the concrete blocks, Mutch said.

Police were at Whakapara on SH1 north of Whangārei to prevent traffic driving though a large flood that had blocked the highway a kilometre up the road. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

Northland police closed a portion of State Highway 1 between Hikurangi and Whakapara due to severe flooding for more than eight hours. Traffic was diverted through Jordan Valley Rd.

Health officials have warned people to steer clear of flooded streams and harbours so as to avoid contact with contaminated water that can cause gastroenteritis (diarrhoea and vomiting), skin infections and respiratory infections.

A warning for motorists on SH1 north of Whangārei on Friday after flooding closed the main road through the region. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

People should not collect shellfish likely to be contaminated with human sewage for at least 28 days from the time of contamination.