She said it took three hours, as opposed to the usual 30 minutes.
Brian Desmond helping locals get through Duncan Rd at Kaingaroa.
Despite the delays, Abrahall said there had been support along the way.
“We met people who offered us tea and coffee while we had to wait it out.”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) confirmed it had received 277 weather-related calls for help between 8am and 3pm on Tuesday, with more than half coming through between 12pm and 1pm.
Nineteen of those calls were from Northland.
While Desmond’s actions were admirable, Fenz spokesman Brad Mosby said it was best to refrain from driving in floodwater where possible.
“Please avoid unnecessary travel and don’t travel through floodwater,” he said.
“It’s difficult to judge the depth and currents during the daytime and impossible at night.”
MetService confirmed Tuesday’s weather event was the seventh heavy rain event (based on events where orange heavy rain warnings were issued) in the Northland region this year.
Meteorologist Thapi Makgabutlane said Tuesday’s event showed most places received more than 50 millimetres of rain between 12am on Tuesday and 12am on Wednesday.
Some places had received much more, with the MetService weather station in Kaikohe recording 123mm - 89 per cent of the average rainfall (138mm) expected there in May.
Other areas with notable amounts of rainfall were Whangārei (93mm), Kerikeri (85mm) and Kaitāia (58mm).
She said the cause of the heavy rain was “a combination of very warm, moist air, conditions in the upper atmosphere and other mechanisms at the surface setting up conditions for heavy rain”.
“There were also thunderstorms embedded within the heavy rain band which delivered bursts of torrential rainfall to some areas over a short space of time.”
Pāmāpuria beef farmer Robin Shepherd described how scenes at his property looked like “65 million tonnes of brown coffee water”.
Shepherd said this year’s ongoing rainfall was the most consistent he’d ever seen and a much different weather pattern than what he was used to.
“I can remember Cyclone Bola in 1972 was a very bad storm, and then you would get ones from the Pacific which would come about two times a year, or maybe once every three years if we were lucky,” he said.
“There’s been a total change in weather patterns which is having huge implications on our local community, which is highly dependent on local vegetable crops.
“It’s also hugely impactful on our economy in the North, with some of our people now without income.
“It goes to show these climatic influences are pretty powerful.”
Tuesday’s downpour wreaked havoc on multiple Northland roads, with Far North District Council opening a welfare centre at the Moerewa Christian Fellowship Church Tuesday night after flooding in Otiria.
A number of local roads were closed on Tuesday night, with 10 roads in the Far North still closed due to flooding at midday yesterday.
The reduction in road closures from 27 on Wednesday morning was mostly due to floodwaters receding, with the trend continuing today.
Yesterday, Far North District Council said Kaitāia, Paihia and Ōpononi residents had been asked to reduce water use for 24 hours after Tuesday’s heavy rain event caused damage to vital water infrastructure.
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency also confirmed State Highway 1 from Brynderwyn Hills to Waipū and Dome Valley had reopened following closures on those roads on Tuesday.
Popular tourist site and sacred place Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Reinga is also closed for the second time in recent months - the first closure due to a fire and this time because of a large slip near its iconic lighthouse.
According to MetService, the area had received more than four times the amount of rain it would on average in May within the first 10 days of the month.
Local iwi Ngāti Kurī posted on their Facebook page on Monday warning people to stay away from the Te Rerenga Wairua walking track until further notice.
“We are expecting more heavy rain so we are unable to do any work to repair our place immediately,” the post said.
“Once the weather clears, the carpark and other lookout spaces will be made available.
“Te Paki Stream, track and road remain closed until further notice too. We will keep you posted.”
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand medical officer of health Dr Ankush Mittal also issued an advisory warning in Northland asking people to stay out of waterways, floodwaters and harbours.
Mittal asked people to avoid contact with contaminated water and to always assume floodwater was contaminated by sewage.
“The advice is to keep out of the water until it is clear (generally five days after the storm ends) and to not swim or consume shellfish or wet fish caught in the storm area.”
Looking forward, there will still be some active weather around and possible thunderstorms today.
MetService’s Makgabutlane said it was important to note thunderstorms always carried a risk of heavy rain bursts in a short space of time, but the amounts of rain expected today would not be anything like those seen on Tuesday.
“That said, some of those storms produce very strong and gusty wind conditions as they move through.”
A drop in temperatures will also be felt across the Northland region today, with daytime temperatures at around 15C - a sharp difference compared to the warmer temperatures felt in the past couple of weeks.
These cooler temperatures will extend overnight into Friday morning, starting with single-digit temperatures for most across the region.
Things will start to look more settled on Friday, with brighter and drier weather which will continue into Saturday, with more showers on Sunday.
