Flash flood warning for North Island

Floodwaters near Kaeo, Northland. Photo / Laura Jerome

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Wild weather is expected to continue into today with another bout of heavy rain forecast to hit parts of the North Island.

However the Metservice says the areas likely to get a downpour are Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne - with Northland likely to escape a repeat of the heavy rain which caused flooding across much of the region.

Those areas were likely to get between 50 to 70mm of rain in a six hour period, starting about 7pm tonight.

Localised heavy bursts of rain are likely, with peak intensities up to 25 mm/hr.

"This new low is rich in tropical moisture and brings yet again the threat for flooding, and this time flash flooding may also be an issue," WeatherWatch forecaster Philip Duncan said.

"The ground is already saturated and the rain band that's coming down may be faster moving but it also contains much heavier bands of rain."

A few hours of torrential rain could lead to rapidly rising rivers and streams, he warned.

However, while Monday's downpour lasted 24 hours, this downpour would be "shorter and sharper" and expected to last only six hours.

Mr Duncan said today's expected severe gales would build quickly in northeast Auckland and Northland, and then head south across Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, the Central Plateau and Taranaki.

Meanwhile the clean up work continues, with many roads still closed and power cut in parts of the upper North Island.

State Highway 30 from Whakamaru To Atiamuri remains closed as a tree lies across the road, and SH12 near Dargaville is closed to all traffic due to flooding.

Powerco spokesman Phil Marsh told Radio New Zealand around 1000 homes remain without power in the Taranaki region after crews worked overnight to repair the network.

Around 500 Taupo residences also remain without power.

Unison customer relations manager Danny Gough said a helicopter will be used to survey the damage to the network.

"There has been a large amount of damage to our network, and the high winds yesterday prevented us from working to restore power in some areas.

"Although conditions have eased today, we can't access some locations due to fallen trees and debris until forestry owners clear access for our lines crews."

The clean up also continues in the Taranaki, still reeling from widespread damage caused by high winds earlier in the month.

Pukekura Park and Brooklands Zoo remain closed, however New Plymouth Airport is operating normally.

The Far North District Council is estimating the cost of the damage in district to be between $3.5 and $4 million, Radio New Zealand reported.