Auckland buses forge on through flooded streets. Video / Supplied
An Auckland bus driver has been labelled “crazy” for taking passengers through one of the areas worst hit by this morning’s deluge after video emerged of the bus driving through deep floodwaters in Onehunga.
The video, shared by Maungakiekie Tamaki Local Board member Debbie Burrows, shows the bus making its way down Beachcroft Ave past cars submerged by the floods that rose quickly after heavy rains lashed the city again early this morning.
Passengers can be seen standing inside the bus to escape water flowing through as the driver sits barely above the level of the wave pushed out by his near-amphibious vehicle.
Incredulous social media users asked why the driver chose to risk entering the water.
“Why was that bus driver driving into that water?” one asked. “All that driver has done is put all the passengers’ lives at risk.”
“That bus driver should be fired,” another wrote. “Putting people at risk driving through that flooded piece of road. Crazy.”
The driver can be seen looking over the top of a wave as the bus pushes through. Photo / Debbie Burrows
Some praised the driver’s dedication to the timetable, pointing out that many essential workers relied on public transport this morning for their commute.
“Looks like the bus drivers are working harder than the mayor to keep the city running,” another joked.
The route taken by the driver was later closed by Auckland Transport.
The video comes after footage from the initial flooding on Friday went around the world, showing a bus taking Elton John fans home from the cancelled concert.
In that case, the driver was praised for taking passengers through as roads began to close and many other Aucklanders were left stranded.
Stacey van der Putten, EGM Safetyfor Auckland Transport, told the Herald:”This was an exceptional situation, which was changing rapidly, and our bus drivers made the best of the circumstances.
“Regarding the video footage from Beachcroft Ave in Onehunga, we are working with the bus operator to get a fuller picture.
”We’re proud of our bus drivers for their resilience over the last few days.”
Widespread disruption
Auckland homes and the city’s motorways flooded as heavy rain once again wreaked havoc across an already-sodden region still recovering from Friday’s deadly storm. Another month’s worth of rain has fallen in Auckland in just 24 hours, with Northland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty also in the line of fire of the latest “atmospheric river”.
Auckland’s Northern Motorway was closed by flooding in both directions between Esmond and Northcote roads for about 90 minutes on Wednesday, before reopening just before 8am. Other sections of the city’s motorways have also been severely affected including the Southern Motorway at Greenlane and Ellerslie-Panmure, and the Southwestern Motorway (State Highway 20) southbound between Queenstown Rd and Neilson St. State Highways 1 and 16 further north of Auckland have been closed by slips and flooding.
The travel chaos extends further: Train services on the city’s western line were stopped because of a power cut and passengers are being redirected to buses. Auckland Emergency Management is advising Aucklanders to avoid travelling “unless necessary”. It urged people to check latest road closures if travel cannot be avoided.
Emergency services are dealing with reports of trees that have fallen on homes in Mt Albert and Whitford; and flooding and landslips in Devonport, with some residents using buckets to furiously bail out water. There have also been callouts to a range of other suburbs including Hillcrest, Mt Roskill, Onehunga, Belmont, Lynfield, One Tree Hill, Remuera and Greenlane. Motorists were once again stranded on streets with rising floodwaters forcing them to abandon their vehicles in Greenlane.
