Contractors were now starting to clear trees off the road before engineers assess the stability of the cliff.
Heavy rain pelted Auckland this morning and more is set to fall after lunch.
Earlier traffic was bumper-to-bumper on sections of Auckland motorways as rain made for a nightmare wet-morning commute.
Motorways were down to a crawl as heavy rain caused rush-hour jams, and a breakdown added to morning commuting woes.
A weather watch was in force for Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty with rain expected to drench both regions in the coming eight hours.
However, despite the expected wet weather, temperatures were forecast to pick up.
MetService predicted most should rise into the double digits, and Whangarei reaching a balmy 18C this afternoon.
