Auckland floods: ‘We thought it was thunder’ - tree crashes on to Mt Albert home

A tree has come crashing down into a home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert as the city battles flooding, torrential rain and wild winds.

In a rear unit off Woodward Rd, Kathan Panchal, a 23-year-old student, was getting ready for work when a huge oak tree crashed on to his home. “We thought it was thunder at first, but then there was the sound of branches cracking.”

Panchal shares the rented flat with his parents. “Mum was pretty shaken up,” he said.

Fire crews are in attendance, and the family are in the process of moving out for at least the day - first stop is a cup of tea at a neighbour’s.

Engineers will assess the damage later today.

The large oak has been unstable for years and had branches come down, nearby residents say. It is on a neighbouring property owned by council, and has covered a pedestrian walkway running alongside the properties.

The oak has been unstable for years and had branches come down, nearby residents say. Photo / Michael Craig

Emergency services are dealing with reports of trees that have fallen on homes in Whitford; and flooding and landslips in Devonport, with some residents using buckets to furiously bail out water.

Another month’s worth of rain has fallen in Auckland in just 24 hours, with Northland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty also in the line of fire of the latest “atmospheric river”.

Auckland’s Northern Motorway was closed by flooding in both directions between Esmond and Northcote roads for about 90 minutes on Wednesday, before reopening just before 8am. Other sections of the city’s motorways have also been severely impacted, including the Southern Motorway at Greenlane and Ellerslie-Panmure, and the Southwestern Motorway (State Highway 20) southbound between Queenstown Rd and Neilson St.

State highways 1 and 16 further north of Auckland have been closed by slips and flooding.

The travel chaos extends further: train services on the city’s western line have been stopped because of a power cut and passengers are being redirected to buses. Auckland Emergency Management is advising Aucklanders to avoid travelling “unless necessary”. It urged people to check the latest road closures if travel cannot be avoided.

There have been callouts to suburbs including Hillcrest, Mt Roskill, Onehunga, Belmont, Lynfield, One Tree Hill, Remuera and Greenlane. Motorists were once again stranded on streets, with rising floodwaters forcing them to abandon their vehicles in Greenlane.