Storm leaves clear skies in its wake

By TONY GEE and WAYNE THOMPSON

Roll up the brollies and roll out the rest of the weekend.

Despite the country getting a soaking from Cyclone Sose yesterday, the chances are the rest of Easter will be mainly fine.

The cyclone, predicted to be the strongest of the Pacific summer, swept across Northland and Auckland late Thursday and early Friday, bringing floods to Northland and parts of the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty, but it was nowhere near as powerful as expected.

The MetService says the cyclone has now been replaced by a ridge of high pressure which is expected to settle over the North Island and remain there, although it could bring strong southerly winds up to 25 to 30 knots in exposed coastal areas.

Senior forecaster Steve Ready said Cyclone Sose had moved away to the east from the northern North Island.

Heavy rain fell in Auckland on Thursday night but the weather for the rest of Easter is expected to be as good as the beginning of Easter was bad.

The east coast of Northland was hit by 207mm of rain, with Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty receiving more than 100mm.

Extensive surface flooding yesterday covered roads and farmland in many areas from Whangarei to north of the Bay of Islands and Whangaroa.

The Historic Places Trust held concerns for New Zealand's oldest building, Kemp House, which was threatened by a rising flood-swollen Kerikeri River.

Staff were on alert - ready to move furniture and artefacts from the house, which was built in 1822 and was severely damaged by flooding in 1981.

Kaeo in the Far North was the hardest hit. Water swirled across State Highway 10 through the town and shops on Thursday night.

At the new BP shop and service station, open only two weeks, Fay Sherman said 5cm of water went through about 4 am.

"We think water might have got into our fuel tanks as well because when we filled two cars with petrol this morning, they didn't go anywhere," she said yesterday.

New carpet in the shop will have to be lifted.

Along nearby Omaunu Rd, surface flooding cut the hospital off from the town.

Dr Trevor Evans had gone off duty at the hospital and was to attend a 10 am church service.

"I got a kilometre down the road and had to come back. The road was flooded and only a four-wheel drive could get to and from the hospital from the town side."

Just to the north, extensive surface flooding from the tidal Kaeo River, which flows into Whangaroa Harbour, cut State Highway 10 at the Kaeo River bridge to all except four-wheel-drive vehicles and buses.

The highway was impassable for most traffic from the early hours of yesterday morning until the afternoon.

An incoming high tide combined with floodwaters to disrupt the travel plans of Easter holidaymakers trying to head north and others attempting to drive south.

In the central North Island, one person was admitted to hospital with neck injuries and two others were hurt when a marquee collapsed at Ohakune.

Police said about 100 people were in the marquee when it came down in high winds about 12.55 am yesterday.

The marquee was being used for the Hui Aranga 2001 Maori cultural celebrations at Ruapehu College, where about 1200 people were expected this weekend.

Wind gusts up to 80 km/h were reported in Ohakune.

High seas forced Tranz Rail to cancel two sailings of its Lynx fast ferry. Around 1200 passengers were affected, but Tranz Rail said all were able to cross Cook Strait yesterday on its bigger ferries.

The annual Easter Auckland-Tauranga yacht race was called off yesterday morning because of organisers' concerns over high winds and seas for the Cape Colville to Tauranga leg of the 24-hour race.

The 37 yachts faced sea swells of 3.5m and a 30-knot southerly.

Thursday night's deluge in Auckland prompted the North Shore City Council to erect pollution warning signs at four popular eastern beaches.

At Murray's Bay, council engineers worked to protect a cracked trunk sewer pipe on the foreshore from high seas.

One hundred and fifty large concrete blocks wired together to form pyramids were placed on the seaward side of the pipe, which carries raw sewage from Browns Bay to the treatment station.