Deadly storm causes travel chaos amid evacuations and widespread flooding

Friday, 5 January 2018

Carnage at the Milford Marina, North Shore where the storm has overturned boats.

A woman has died after a tree fell on to a car in Rotorua, as a storm brings devastation and travel chaos to large parts of the country.

The tree fell on the car in Arawa St in the city centre outside Rotorua Primary School about 10.45am on Friday, as the storm brought flooding and road closures in many regions.

Niwa said 41mm of rain had fallen in Auckland since 9am on Thursday - more than the total amount of rain in November and December combined.

The wild weather prompted Air New Zealand to cancel or delay all regional flights. Flights in and out of Tauranga and Rotorua were also cancelled, with many more delayed.

A tree ripped out of the ground by wind in the Hamilton suburb of Frankton.

The storm surge catches out a walker on Auckland's Tamaki Dr.

* Heavy rain closes roads in Christchurch, causes flooding

* Evacuation warnings and rocks on the road around Firth of Thames

* Weather forces the closure of SH1 to Kaikōura

* Tree fall in Rotorua kills person in car

* In photos: New Year storm**

The ASB Classic tennis tournament was a washout for a second day in Auckland, and the final won't be played until Sunday.

SECOND DAY OF THE STORM

The storm, which had entered into its second day, had caused widespread damage across much of the North Island and upper South Island.

Another day of gales and heavy rain is on the way for much of the country.

It was being caused by a deep low that came out of the tropics, and around noon on Friday was centred west of Taranaki. It was expected to cross the lower half of the North Island during the afternoon and evening.

MetService expects the worst of the severe weather to be over by midday on Saturday.

A king tide and heavy rains is causing havoc near Russell.

Tongariro, Mt Taranaki, Marlborough and the Tararua Range were expected to record the heaviest rain on Friday.

The overnight downpour had forced the closure of State Highway 1 to Kaikōura in both directions until further notice, and people in low-laying parts of the Firth of Thames were told to urgently evacuate.

Parts of State Highway 25 between Thames and Manaia reopened later, after slips and rock falls caused parts of the road to close.

Part of Auckland's Tamaki Drive are reopened after it was closed due to water spilling on the road. Auckland's Northern Motorway was closed for a time because harbour water spilled onto the road.

State Highway 25 between Thames and Manaia was closed due to slips and rock falls, and SH 1 north and south of Kaikōura was closed by the weather.

In Milford Marina, Auckland, boats were overturned, streets and properties in Thames were flooded by the sea, and people in low-lying parts of the Firth of Thames were told to evacuate urgently. Caravans at a camping ground at Kaiaua, on the western side of the Firth of Thames, were surrounded by seawater.

At Algies Bay north of Auckland high winds and tides ripped boats off moorings and crashed them against the rocks.

Harsh winds and rain also caused some 12,000 Auckland homes to wake up with no power on Friday morning. By noon, many houses had their power restored, but thousands were still cut off, Vector spokesperson Matthew Britton said.

In Christchurch, heavy rain caused surface flooding and closed roads, while the rising Heathcote River flooded properties and streets.

WIND THREATENS NZ

MetService meteorologist April Clark said that while some areas were getting heavy rain, the main issue on Friday was the prolonged strong winds being felt in many parts of the upper North Island.

The worst of the wind in those areas was starting to ease by the evening. The wind would be turning from the northeast to the north around the middle of the day, then turn to the northwest and later to the southwest.

'They still have strong winds tomorrow, but really into the evening is when the worst of those gusts are expected to ease.'

The highest wind gust recorded was one of 161kmh at an elevated weather radar at Kaeo in Northland at 7pm Thursday. On Friday a gust of 113kmh was recorded at the Hokianga Harbour, also in Northland.

In Rotorua, a gust of 124kmh was recorded at another elevated radar site, while at Rotorua Airport a gust was measured at 89kmh.

'It's been pretty consistent since early this morning,' Clark said about midday Friday. The strong winds had been prolonged and widespread and many places would have received gusts around 80-90kmh.

'For places like Kāpiti and Wellington, it's more when the southerly comes through tonight, that they'll get the strongest winds … that's going to be really strong.' It could mean problems with coastal flooding for the Wellington south coast and the area around Eastbourne, while the strong southerlies could also affect the Kaikōura Coast.

Early on Friday the heavy rain band, which pushed over much of the North Island on Thursday, had mostly affected the Tararua Range, Marlborough and Nelson.

During Friday afternoon MetService was expecting the heaviest rain to be in Tongariro National Park, Mt Taranaki, Marlborough including the Kaikōura Coast, and the Bay of plenty from Opotiki eastwards.

Parts of Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne had from 100-150mm of rain in the 24 hours to early Friday. Rotorua Airport recorded about 100mm and parts of Auckland and Northland had 50-80mm.