Kaitāia flooding: 500 evacuated after Far North town drenched in rain

Kaitāia resident Dave Arrell was evacuated by emergency services on Thursday night. Photo / Brad Snow

A Kaitāia local said they had “a flowing river going down our street” before they were evacuated on Thursday night.

Robyn Shackleton told Ryan Bridge TODAY she watched water rise over her road before Fire and Emergency and the Army services arrived.

“My heart goes out to everybody else who was sort of getting uplifted and moved out and it wasn’t just our street, there were other streets around our major supermarket.”

Some 500 people were evacuated overnight, with around 40 people being provided accommodation at Kaitāia College, according to Civil Defence Northland.

Images from Kaitāia on Friday morning show lakes and water features where roads should be. Photo / Brad Snow

The Northland and Far North areas were the worst hit by this week’s weather, with 230-280mm of rain hitting the regions.

The Whangārei District Council and the Far North District Council remain in states of emergency. More than 50 roads – plus six state highways – were shut across Northland on Thursday.

Shackleton, who has lived in her house for 20 years, believed the flooding happened after a riverbank failed.

“We’re standing here at midnight and there was no wind, there were stars in the sky and there was just this force of water coming through the road, just slowly building up and building up like we were getting a riverside property. So, it was quite eerie.”

Shackleton said the road was still flooded because of a blocked drain “so the water’s still here because it’s physically got nowhere to go”.

Dave Arrell the road was covered in over a metre of water. Photo / file

Her neighbour, Dave Arrell, said emergency services arrived at midnight to take them away when the road was covered in over a metre of water.

Arrell, who has lived in his house for 15 years, said he was lucky the water only reached his door sill and didn’t come in.

Other houses on the street “all had about six inches of water through”.

The Far North town received more than double its monthly rainfall in two days, said MetService.

Arrell said it had been a stressful experience.

“It’s no fun. You don’t wish it on anybody and the whole country’s been getting dealt to, so we’re all getting a turn, it seems.”

“I could do with a bit more sleep,” said Arrell.

The Pak’nSave Kaitāia store and fuel site had some flooding. The store is now open but its fuel site will be closed until “until assessments are made”.

Civil Defence Northland said damage to the roading network in some locations was likely to be significant.