Northland storm: Elderly woman rescued by IRB from flooded home as parts of Far North almost cut off as roads and schools closed

Kaitāia residents are believed to be evacuating their homes as floodwaters continue to rise.

The Advocate understands some locals self-evacuated from Allen Bell Drive earlier today but may be ordered shortly to pack up and leave as water levels reach thigh height.

It's the latest weather-induced drama after an elderly Kaitaia woman had to be rescued from her property by a Surf Rescue IRB earlier today when flood waters cut her off.

Tony Walker, Ahipara Surf Rescue Club Captain said Ahipara Surf Rescue were called to Kaitaia south today after a 75-year-old lady was trapped in her home due to rising flood waters.

The woman located on Larmer Rd, just off South Rd/SH1, called emergency services around midday, over concerns her property was flooding.

Walker said the elderly woman lived on her own and could not vacate her property.

Four surf rescue crew responded while another four members and a backup boat on were standby.

A Kaitaia Fire Brigade appliance was also in attendance.

Walker said he was surprised at how quickly the water was rising around the Far North and expected more call-outs in the next 24 hours.

"At its height, the flood water at the lady's house was around hip height and rising," Walker said.

"When we left the road, the water was just at the edge of the road, but by the time we came back, it was well over the centre line.

"We had to launch the boat to get across the flooded ford to get her out of the house which was about 75m away from the road," Walker said.

"The water is very fast flowing but we managed to get the lady out safely and back to the road."

Walker said the woman was in good condition and later escorted by police to a friend's place to take shelter.

He explained they had attended a similar incident the year before for the lady's neighbour and his four dogs.

The flood water continues to rise around the district, with reports coming in from all around regarding fallen trees, flooding and slips.

Walker said things were looking 'pretty wicked' out there and predicted several more roads would go under.

"Ahipara is starting to flood now and the middle of town is looking bad, it's not going to be good and probably impassable shortly," Walker said.

"We've had so much rain this year, so that doesn't help and I think we can expect much more of this moving forward thanks to climate change."

Parts of the Far North are virtually cut off from the rest of the country due to slips and flooding.

Locals have taken matters into their own hands after a fallen tree south of Mangōnui blocked the state highway in both directions.

Hihi resident Jesse Pere explained how he had been driving home from Cooper's Beach just after 2pm when he came across the tree, just south of Paewhenua Island.

He said both lanes of the SH10 were at a standstill, with around 12-15 vehicles stuck on either side of the tree.

The call was made to Fulton Hogan to remove the tree, however, thanks to a few locals, they managed to shift the tree on their own.

"We were waiting for around 15 minutes when a couple of local blokes shouted, 'we've got a chainsaw!' and cut the tree into the three sections," Pere said.

"Then another guy managed to tow the tree with his truck so that we could eventually pass through."

Pere said while the road was now clear, there were concerns the road may be blocked again shortly due to what looked like an impending slip.

According to Pere, just a few kilometres further south, parts of Oruaiti were starting to flood, with flood water creeping closer to the state highway outside of Oruaiti Primary School.

SH1 on the south of Kaitāia near Mangamuka Gorge, just north of Makene Rd, remains closed due to a large slip that occurred earlier this morning.

A large slip has blocked Lemons Hill, between Kawakawa and Ōpua. Much of the Far North is virtually cut off due to slips and flooding, Photo / Michael Cunningham

No detour is available as SH10 is also closed because of severe flooding at Kāeo River Bridge, which also has no alternative route available because Rangiahua Bridge on SH1 has also flooded.

Floodwaters have blocked lanes on SH10 near the intersection of Inland Rd in Lake Ohia. Emergency services are directing traffic and severe delays are expected.

Kaitaia Fire Brigade fire chief Craig Rogers advised Far North locals to stay home if they can, out of the weather and off the roads.

"There's no travel happening, you're going to have to lockdown."

A motorist became stuck when they tried to make their way through floodwaters on SH10, north of Kaeo this afternoon. Photo / Peter de Graaf.

A truck overturned on SH1 at Saleyards Rd, north of Whangārei just before 1pm, losing its load. Police attended the scene.

A logging truck overturned and lost part of its load at Saleyards Rd, on SH1, north of Whangārei, just before 1pm today. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A car left the road in wet weather at Taipa this morning. It's unclear at this stage if anybody was injured.

The tyre marks show where this car left the road at Taipa during today's storm. Photo / Supplied

The weather caused chaos on the water as a salvage operation had to be carried out in Paihia after an 8m launch - called Elmo - dragged its anchor and washed up on the beach.

A salvage operation is underway to save this launch - Elmo - which has dragged it's anchor in Paihia today. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Coastguard arrived to help with the salvage shortly after 10.30am - battling against a powerful onshore wind, big swells and driving rain.

By 11am they had pulled the boat off the beach.

A second vessel fell foul of the weather when it dragged its anchor at Tutukaka. The Tutukaka Coastguard successfully secured the boat because any damage occurred.

Some Far North schools opted to batten down the hatches and close for the day. Among them were Broadwood, Peria, Kaitāia Primary, Oruaiti and Mangonui.

Taipa Area School was on reduced staff and advised kids to stay home.

Roughly 1063 Top Energy customers across the region were without power at 4.50pm.

Affected areas included Towai, Hūkerenui, Motatau, Ōpua, Te Haumi, Peria, Victoria Valley, Kaingaroa, and Cape Reinga.

There are currently no power outages on the Northpower lines.

Green Lane, in Kaeo, is more like Brown Lake this morning as Kaeo River swells. Photo / Supplied

Jacqui Hori-Hoult, Waka Kotahi Regional Transport Systems Manager for Auckland and Northland said Waka Kotahi I s working very closely in Northland with its contractor Fulton Hogan to maintain the state highway network in a uniquely challenging environment.

''We closely monitor all known land movement and slips in the Mangamuka Gorge, as we do for all state highways.

"The increasing frequency and intensity of severe weather events as a result of climate change means that slips and closures will continue to be a challenge in the Mangamuka Gorge, as they are right across New Zealand,'' she said.

The geology and soil conditions in Northland also pose challenges that are different to other places in New Zealand, such as the South Island.

Unstable soft soils across the region make the stability of the land particularly susceptible to the climactic weather changes we are now experiencing, including more frequent and heavier rain storm events and conversely drought conditions.

''As a result, the road network across Northland moves a lot as soils shrink and crack under dry conditions, creating underground fissures where water finds its way through the soil, which then expands and becomes heavier with both continuous rain and artesian groundwater.

"In the Mangamuka Gorge, this dry/wet cycle, combined with highly fractured rock and steep terrain, causes the forest lands above and below the road to weaken and become susceptible to the large deep land movement," Hori-Hoult said.

As a whole, water and roads do not mix, and our people work hard to manage, monitor and maintain our roads across this very challenging environment.

''We encourage anyone identifying a new or potential slip, or with any other concerns about state highway network, to contact us through our free 24/7 phone service, 0800 44 44 49. In many cases contractors can respond to concerns within hours," Hori-Hoult said.

MetService is still issuing a heavy rain warning for Northland with downpours expected to last until 9am on Friday.

The weather service is expecting a further 100 to 140mm of rain to accumulate on top of what has already fallen, especially in the north and east, with peak rates of 10 to 20mm/h.

MetService's strong wind warning for Northland remains in place. Northeast gales battering the region with gusts reaching 120km/h in exposed places are forecast to ease around 6pm tonight.

Kaeo township is under threat of severe flooding today. Photo / Shelley Latimer

Kaeo township is being threatened by floodwaters. Photo / Shelley Latimer

This large log was washed ashore at Paihia today from the overnight storm. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaeo township is being threatened by floodwaters. Photo / Shelley Latimer

Haruru Falls, in the Bay of Islands, has become a torrent in today's heavy rain. Photo / Peter de Graaf.