- Civil Defence is preparing Taupō residents for evacuation because of flooding risks from river flow.
- Fire and Emergency has had about 60 callouts in Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato.
- Cold weather follows the wild weather, with snow isolating the Mackenzie Country and temperatures dropping.
There has been relief for Taupō residents as the Tauranga-Taupō River river reached its peak and the risk of evacuations subsides.
Civil Defence has been knocking on doors in the area, preparing people, as flooding from heavy rain overnight caused the river to swell to breaking point.
The deluge across the North Island that began on Wednesday afternoon has seen Fire and Emergency in the upper North Island race to pick up trees off powerlines and homes, and rescue vehicles from floodwaters.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed much of the upper North Island overnight but the MetService rain radar shows the worst of the thunderstorms have moved to the west of the country.
Taupō’s Civil Defence public information officer said 70 properties were at risk of being flooded when the Tauranga-Taupō River flow reached their lakefront settlement near Tuki St.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
Land Search and Rescue has been knocking and readying people in the vicinity to evacuate.
“The river has already peaked, we are just waiting to see what that impact is for the homes down the river,” Taupō’s Civil Defence public information officer said.
“We are telling people to prepare.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Fire and Emergency said they had 60 callouts overnight in the Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato, mostly for trees coming down on houses, onto powerlines and flooding.
He said the flooding was primarily in Auckland and concentrated between 9pm and 10pm.
In Wellington, Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Belinda Beets said the service was called to Sunhaven Drive just after 2am after reports that part of a roof had landed on another home.
She said there were no reports of injuries and while the occupants had found somewhere else to stay tonight, their roof had been secured using wire.
Beets said that just after 5am crews were also called to Carterton after reports that strong gales were blowing flashings off a dairy and another home. She said there had been a “steady stream” of calls in Bay of Plenty and Waikato.
South Island regions isolated by snowfall
However, as the wild weather leaves, a cold snap has followed in its wake.
Snow isolated areas of the Mackenzie Country this morning, with State Highway 80 from Lake Pūkaki to Aoraki/Mt Cook and SH8 Lake Pūkaki to Fairlie closed after overnight falls.
The roads reopened at 7.45am.
Most heavy rain and wind watches and warnings are forecast to expire by late morning as the rain moves off New Zealand.
MetService forecaster John Law told the Herald that today would be a “slightly quieter day”.
“It will be pretty windy for places like Wellington, Wairarapa and even Auckland,” he said.
“It will be a windy start to the day, but not as windy as yesterday.”
Law said the southwesterlies would make for a cold day.
According to MetService, Auckland and Hamilton are forecast to reach a high of 19C today.
Tauranga is set to peak at 20C while Napier is forecast to reach 22C.
However, temperatures are forecast to plummet in the South Island, with Christchurch reaching a high of 10C and a low of -1C and Queenstown hitting a high of 8C and a low of -2C.
A snowfall warning is forecast to come into force for Milford Rd (SH94) from 11am to 8pm.
“Two to 5cm of snow may accumulate above 600m on the road with less down to 400m.”
Meanwhile, a heavy swell warning is in place for Kāpiti-Porirua Coast to Cape Terawhiti until 3pm.
Waves are forecast to reach 3m in the morning, lowering to 1m in the afternoon.
Law said temperatures were forecast to keep falling as New Zealand heads into the weekend.
“For most of us, as we head towards the weekend, it’s definitely going to feel like June,” he said.
“Places like Wānaka, Alexandra [will have] daytime highs of 3C or 4C and nighttime lows down below freezing.”
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