Auckland storm sees Sylvia Park mall flooded, with possibility of tornadoes on way

Thursday, 22 August 2019

A Takanini shop owner said the hail was 'just crazy'.

Stores have flooded at a popular Auckland mall and a tree has fallen on a car following heavy downpours.

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Auckland could get hit with more heavy downpours later this week, while Northland can expect potentially severe gales.

Sylvia Park, in the suburb of Mt Wellington, flooded on Thursday afternoon, Kiwi Property spokesman Campbell Hodgetts said.

'There's been some flooding as a result of all the heavy rain. We're trying to get to the bottom of it,' he said.

A slippery floor sign had been erected outside the mall's L'Occitane shop, and it appeared to have no lights on inside on Thursday afternoon.

Rain batters protesters taking part in a hikoi from Ihumātao to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office.

A tradesman captures the storm from a balcony in St Marys Bay.

However, two mall managers and nearby shop employees would not comment.

The stores surrounding L'Occitane were operating as normal.

Fire and Emergency NZ said a tree had earlier fallen on a parked car in the West Auckland suburb of Massey.

'We attended and provided advice,' a spokesman said.

'We've attended two calls regarding flooding in West Auckland. The incidents didn't cause great concern.'

Auckland storm had flooded Auckland mall, Sylvia Park.

Meanwhile, residents reported thunder, lightning and hail in Auckland's west and southern areas.

A hail storm rages in Auckland's Randwick Park.

A shop owner in Takanini said the hail was just 'crazy'.

In central Auckland, videos showed rain whipping sideways through the streets.

NIWA said there had been 50 lightning strikes across the region in the space of an hour.

The New Zealand Transport Agency advised drivers to slow down, keep their lights on and maintain a safe following distance.

'Extra caution is also advised on the Auckland Harbour Bridge due to strong wind gusts.'

On Thursday evening, MetService issued a severe weather watch for parts of the North Island, saying a disturbed west to northwest flow would affect New Zealand overnight and on Friday.

There would be periods of heavy rain in Bay of Plenty, east of Whakatane, possibly until Friday evening, the forecaster said.

Heavy rain whips though Auckland central on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a strong wind watch was in place for northwesterlies reaching severe gale strength in Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula until 6am Friday.

Strong winds were capable of causing structural damage, including trees and power lines, and make driving hazardous.

Vector said additional crews would be on standby as bad weather set in overnight.

'The risk of trees coming into contact with power lines and cars colliding with power poles in the wet increases during these types of weather events,' head of network field services Marko Simunac said.

MetService meteorologist Curtis Hayes said the storm was the result of a big weather front crossing the North Island.

'There's a system in behind this developing and moving across the North Island, so we'll see another band of rain pretty much everywhere north of central North Island,' he said.

'There's some heavy rain [on Friday] but it looks like there's a ridge building in the weekend, so Saturday should be better for most people.'

On Sunday, a front would move onto the southern South Island, but the weekend looked 'generally good' for most of New Zealand, Hayes said.