More than 300 Auckland homes flooded as Tasman Tempest rages

Sunday, 12 March 2017

A deluge caused major flooding in the West Auckland suburb of New Lynn on Sunday. Resident James Ellis' home was waterlogged.

A severe thunderstorm watch has finally been lifted for Auckland after more than 300 homes flooded on Sunday.

Multiple people were also briefly trapped in floodwater as the Tasman Tempest lashed the region.

Firefighters pulled shoppers to safety after they became trapped in the West Auckland suburb of New Lynn about 1.20pm on Sunday.

Fire crews pulled trapped shoppers from the water following the downpour.

Many of them were suffering from exposure, the Fire Service said.

* Flash floods, landslides and power cuts strike Waiheke Island

Heavy rain has caused flooding in New Lynn.

* Storm leaves Kawakawa Bay home covered in sludge**

In total, 321 properties across Auckland were affected by flooding on Sunday, the Fire Service said.

Of those, 225 were in West Auckland, where the water was up to waist-deep in some homes.

Glen Eden was the hardest-hit suburb, with 94 homes underwater.

Parked cars were waterlogged almost up to their windows.

Auckland continues to get hammered with heavy rain.

Twenty-six homes in Avondale, 30 in Henderson, 10 in West Harbour, 52 in Titirangi and 13 in Te Atatu were also waterlogged.

A massive power outage in Glen Eden also saw 2853 homes in the dark.

Flooding on Barnfield Place in Auckland's Glendene.

The outage, caused by a flooded substation, was resolved just after 5pm.

In other parts of the region, homes had flooded in Parnell, Kaukapakapa, Devonport, Remuera, Eden Terrace and Morningside.

The Fire Service declared a Multiple Incident Procedure due to multiple weather-related incidents and fire alarm activations across Auckland on Sunday.

Auckland Civil Defence said Titirangi had received 65mm of rain in one hour.

MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the region on Sunday morning and was warning of heavy rain, with downpours of 50mm per hour or more, until about 2pm.

'Rainfall of this intensity can cause flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips.

Houses and garages were flooded in Green Bay.

'Driving conditions will also be hazardous, with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.'

The watch was lifted about 3.20pm.

CLOSURES

A number of roads had been closed around New Lynn, Henderson and Kelston due to flooding and police were asking motorists to avoid the area if possible.

In the Clevedon-Maraetai-Hunua area, Twilight Rd, from Kimptons Rd to North Rd, had been closed since the first storm earlier in the week.

East Coast Rd was closed from Orere Point Rd to the border of Waikato and Auckland, and McNicol Rd was closed from the Tourist Rd intersection to the end of the road.

On Waiheke Island, Tawa St in Oneroa was closed due to a slip, and Waiheke Rd was down to one lane.

Falls Rd in Warkworth was closed from Viv Davie-Martin Drive to Woodcocks Rd.

In Panmure, Lagoon Drive was down to one lane due to a slip, as was Hunua Rd through the Hunua Gorge in rural south Auckland.