More heavy rain for Northland later this week after more than 100mm in one night

Five-year-old Alex van Rooyen checks out Haruru Falls in the Bay of Islands after a night of heavy rain. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Don't put your brollies and raincoats away yet - the worst of the stormy weather is set to return to Northland before this weekend.

MetService is warning Northland is set to receive another drenching late tomorrow, following persistent rain overnight Monday that saw more than 100mm fall in some areas in less than 24 hours.

While the rain had eased by yesterday afternoon, MetService meteorologist Amy Rossiter said the period of calm would not last.

"We have another front approaching from the north and you'll probably start to see the effects of that on Thursday afternoon into the evening.

"Rain on already saturated surfaces could lead to some more flooding."

However, there was a chance there would be a fine day across Northland on Sunday, Rossiter said.

The rain would not be heavy over the next few days until late Thursday, she added.

"You've still got a few showers persisting in a westerly flow but they should be relatively light compared to what you've seen."

The town with the highest rainfall in the region overnight on Monday and up to 2pm yesterday, was Kerikeri, with 106.8mm.

Marsden Point and Kaeo recorded the highest wind gusts of 135km/hr.

A number of roads throughout the region were closed yesterday morning due to crashes and flooding.

Emergency management specialist Bill Hutchinson, of Northland Civil Defence, said the region got off lightly given the amount of rain that fell overnight.

All rivers exceeded their flood thresholds due to moderate to heavy rain in already saturated catchments, which meant the ground had no capacity to soak up the excess water.

Flooding occurred at the usual spots but especially on State Highway 1 at Rangiahua, where the water level was still rising yesterday morning while it was dropping everywhere else.

A bad slump had affected West Coast Rd near Panguru, making it unsafe.

Whangārei Falls after heavy rain overnight. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Of note were four accidents between 5am and 7am — at Takahue, Pakaraka, Towai and Te Kao — involving vehicles crashing into downed trees.

Only the Takahue incident resulted in significant injury. A truck ploughed into a tree already down amid heavy rainfall and pitch-black conditions, a spokesperson for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade said.

Firefighters, including a crew from Ahipara, worked together to free the driver whose legs were trapped by the crushed dashboard.

The spokesperson said he was talking and able to help hold the specialised equipment in place used to remove him from the truck.

The volunteers of Ōkaihau Fire Brigade had one of their longest call-outs on record after responding around 4.45am to a slip that left trees and debris spread across SH1 at Mangamuka.

On their way back they found their route was blocked by flooding at Rangiahua so they had to turn around and drive over the Mangamuka Ranges to Kaitaia, then home to Ōkaihau via SH10.

They were still on their way home at 2pm, Hutchinson said.

Part of SH10 near Omaunu Rd, Kaeo was closed for about four hours from 10.30am due to flooding.

Further south, SH1 was closed between Orewa and Warkworth due to a large slip and fallen trees.

More than 1000 Northlanders were without power for periods yesterday, as bad weather caused multiple power outages across the region.

Peria, Mangonui, Maromaku and Maungatapere were among the areas affected by power cuts.

In Kawakawa a takeaway shop was inundated with floodwater and silt.

Far North District Council contractor Ventia was tasked with inspecting the building to ensure it was safe and sanitary. The outcome was not known at edition time yesterday.