"They are exceptional statistical facts. They do happen, but not that often."
West Auckland took a hammering on Sunday recording an intense rainfall of up to 49mm between 11am and 12pm.
Civil Defence will continue with their emergency response throughout the evening.
Today, a number of weather-related incidents have been reported, with West Auckland hit the worst. They include:
• 170 homes reportedly flooded in West Auckland, plus more around the city.
Suburbs affected include Kaukapakapa, Devonport, Parnell, Remuera, Eden Terrace, Blockhouse Bay, Morningside, Massey, Westgate, Whenuapai and New Lynn.
• Ten people were rescued in New Lynn from rising floodwaters.
• Police were called to a crash at the intersection of Davies Road and Ararimu Road in Manurewa shortly before 11.30am.
A car was on its roof and power lines down. A police spokeswoman said the crash, involving just the two vehicles, had caused an power outage.
She was unable to confirm, what if any injuries there were.
• Reports of a landslip into a house in West Auckland.
• A massive tree has crashed down over a footpath at the Auckland Domain.
• An inflatable yellow raft was found floating past the Taita rocks on the Hutt Valley river about 11.15am.
Police said they had "major concerns for any people who may have been in the water at the time with the raft".
They are seeking more information.
Civil defence issued a warning to stay out of flood waters as it could be contaminated, have hidden hazards or be much deeper than it looks.
A handful of homes remain without power tonight in Kawakawa Bay.
At the height of the flooding, the Fire Service received a call every 24 seconds. By late afternoon, all urgent 111 calls had been resolved and the majority of non-urgent calls had also been cleared.
But there is still some concern about some sites in New Lynn, including a commercial building with a suspected burst water main running through it. Engineers have assessed Bunnings Warehouse in New Lynn and cleared it to open tomorrow.
The intersection of Clark Street and Great North Road remains closed, with cordons in place. A detour is in place between Titirangi Rd, Margan Ave, Rankin Ave and Clark St. Motorists are advised that when the intersection does open, it will be a single lane each way.
In Kelston, 12 residents have been evacuated from a multi-dwelling residential block. Response teams have carried out needs assessments and emergency accommodation has been provided for those residents.
Dairy Flat man Cameron Bank, 25, made the most of the wet day by wakeboarding flooded paddocks in Kaukapakapa. He got a friend to tow him along behind a 4WD while he surfed water up to 2m deep.
"We thought it was fun. We thought we'd just try it
"The water was over my head.
"It was pretty cool, something a bit different."
Bank said they drew quite an audience who were entertained by their antics.
"Everyone was cracking up. They were loving it."
Forecast
Most of the North Island can expect a few showers heading into the working week, but come Tuesday the umbrellas can be stashed away, according to MetService
"Before we were just getting moist rain-making north easterlies whereas the low marks a change coming and now it's westerlies, MetService meteorologist April Clark said.
"Things are drying out and it ends with a bang basically. The big rainfall and then it moves past and it should be drying out hopefully."
Temperatures in Auckland were expected to reach a high of 24C on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday would be mostly fine for the mid to upper parts of the North Island.
Occasional rain was expected to stick around in Palmerston North, Wairarapa and Wellington.
A southerly change on the East Cost could spark a possible thunderstorm in the Huiarau Range, which could result in rain in Gisborne and Hastings.
"From Tuesday onwards it's an improving trend, it should be fining up for most people," Clark said.
Latest weather warning
West Auckland suburbs have been hit the hardest with the Fire Service reporting that more than 50 homes had been flooded within two hours.
Shortly before midday, heavy rain began lashing Auckland City, heralding the start of the period of wild stormy weather. A thunderstorm warning expired at 2pm.
Auckland Civil Defence operations manager Aaron Davis warned people to brace themselves for "extreme winds" with the potential to topple trees and power lines.
Great Barrier Island was expected to bear the brunt of the forecast 100-120km/h winds.
"This is a fast-moving and very unstable system with a risk of small tornadoes anywhere across the region."
Davis advised against any non-essential travel, to secure furniture, have a battery-operated radio handy in case of power outages, bring pets inside and consider closing curtains as windows could be broken by trees or debris.
Overnight Murdoch said the wet weather had eased off.
"[In] places like Northland there hasn't been any huge numbers in the last 24 hours; in Auckland we've had up to maybe 30mm to 40mm in the last 24 hours, but most of that was [Saturday] morning."
But Murdoch said it wasn't completely over yet.
At 6.30am she said the heaviest bout of rain was lashing parts of Taranaki, Nelson, Wellington and Kapiti, with it expected to move into the central part of the north island, through to Taranaki, Taupo and the Central Plateau.
Police have released a statement urging members of the public to drive carefully as the wet weather lashes the capital.
"Heavy rain across the Wellington region is making driving challenging and motorists are asked to drive to conditions."
Police advised drivers to slow down, increase following distances and take their time.
Events cancelled
While this morning's annual Colour Run in Auckland managed to get underway in a break between storms, it's bad news for St Patrick's Day fans.
A parade scheduled for today, ahead of St Patrick's Day on Friday, has been cancelled.
Parade organisers said due to uncertainty around when exactly the weather would clear there was not enough time to safely set up the event scheduled to take place in Ponsonby this afternoon.
"The health and safety of our parade volunteers and performers is our primary concern.
"We are as disappointed as you are but unfortunately we cannot control the weather."
Organisers have not set up an alternative date for the event.
Clean-up mode
Residents around Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Waikato regions were in clean-up mode Saturday after the second wild weather event in a week saw motorists stuck in flood water, hundreds without power in Auckland overnight.
In an update this morning Vector spokeswoman Beth Johnson said most Auckland residents should be back on the grid.
"Crews have worked through the night to restore power to all but a few homes. There is one remaining outage: Kawakawa Bay Coast Road."
Johnson said slips in the area were continuing to happen and the ground still needed to be stabilised before crew could get in and fix the outage.
Affected residents were on generators for power supply and had been advised a full repair was still a few days away.
The Kawakawa area was one of the areas worst hit by the bad weather; Kawakawa Bay Kindergarten was almost totally destroyed in the first downpour mid-week after a tidal creek at the back of the building flooded, head teacher Lisa Carlin told the Herald on Sunday.
The latest downpour further impacted on the massive clean-up job.
More than 500 children's books worth $3000, puzzles, pictures, and CDs have been ruined by the downpours and associated flooding, which has also water-logged furniture, damaged computers and up-ended outdoor equipment.
"We have to relocate the kindergarten and children to the community hall. It's going to take about three months to get it up and running again."
Numerous roads in Northland, Auckland and Coromandel were cut off by the flooding, but road crews have been working hard to get them open.
Crews today were continuing work across the highway network to clear debris.
There were travel warnings in place for a number of roads in the Waikato and Coromandel affected by slips and flooding although none appeared to be closed.
To check road conditions when driving go to the NZTA traffic information site.
Anyone who may still need help should contact Auckland Civil Defence on
0800 22 22 00.
People experiencing stormwater issues, structural issues with buildings, or see trees down on public land should call Auckland Council on (09) 301-0101.
Anyone experiencing wastewater overflow or wastewater flooding on their property should call Watercare on (09) 442-2222.
