Bad weather causes disruptions around the North Island

Residents of a beachfront property in west Auckland were just 1m away from losing their house in a slip today.


Police were called just after 3pm when the bank slipped away just in front of the beachfront house in Laingholm, a west Auckland suburb bordering Manukau Harbour.


Waitakere deputy chief fire officer Peter Wilding said the slip was 30m long and fell 7-8m.


"The house appears to be intact at the moment but it has been evacuated as a precaution," he said.


Mr Wilding believed the house was the only one threatened, though Waitakere City Council engineers were assessing the surrounding area.


He said earlier reports of the house being damaged or hit in the slip appeared to be incorrect but a close watch was being kept over the house to ensure it didn't slide off the cliff.

Meanwhile surface road flooding was this afternoon being reported in the Hawke's Bay and Gisborne.

Reports had come in about flooding on State Highways 2 and 50 and around the Wairoa and Tolaga Bay areas, and there had been slips in some areas, Inspector Peter Stokes of police central communications said.

Motorists were asked to drive to the conditions. Drive safely and they would get to their destinations, he said.

About 4pm the Automobile Association (AA) warned "extreme care" was needed because of flooding on SH35 between Te Kaha and Gisborne.

"Although the highway is open, there is a high incidence of standing water on the road surface due to minor flooding," the AA said.

Just before 4.30pm, the AA reported SH2 was closed between Matawai and Te Karaka, northwest of Gisborne due to flooding. No alternative route was available.

Police warned motorists to be aware that there were a number of slips and trees blown over along State Highway 2 and State Highway 5, on the Napier-Taupo Road.

Mr Stokes said road crews were making every effort to clear the obstructions.

Gisborne police issued a warning that several roads in the area, including State Highway 2, were closed due to surface flooding.

Gisborne civil defence officer Richard Steele said pupils at Tolaga Bay Area School, about 55km northeast of Gisborne, had been sent home early today because of the heavy rainfall.

Three families had also been evacuated north of Tolaga Bay as a precaution in case river waters rose after dark, he said.

Apart from that, one other person had chosen to evacuate.

The MetService was forecasting the rain to continue at least until midnight which could cause evacuations inland from Gisborne, possibly affecting 20 to 30 homes.

SH2 north to Opotiki had been closed because of an overflowing river.

"We don't know when it's going to clear but I wouldn't see any movement ... until tomorrow morning," Mr Steele said.

A few roads to communities in the district had also been lost.

"The weather's pretty shocking here, so you'd only really want to travel if you have to, and that would be our advice."

MetService duty forecaster Jasmine Kennedy said areas in northern Hawke's Bay had received more than 100mm of rain in the 24 hours to 5pm, while Gisborne itself had received about 80mm in the same period.

A further 50mm to 70mm more was expected in parts of the Gisborne and Hawke's Bay regions between 5pm and about 3am tomorrow.

Parts of the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel had received between 50mm and 60mm of rain, while Whakatane had 73mm and Tauranga had about 40mm in the 24 hours to 1pm, she said.

The southern side of Mt Taranaki had also received about 100mm in the same period, and Hawera in South Taranaki had about 65mm.

The low causing the bad weather was north of the Hicks Bay area of the East Cape about 5pm and was to track eastward taking the rain band with it.

The rain and strong winds would gradually ease tomorrow and after that most parts of the country should have "a fabulous Labour Weekend", Ms Kennedy said.

Gisborne police this evening reported SH2 was closed due to surface flooding at the Waipaoa River crossing, about 10km from of Gisborne, and Nuhaka, about 70km southwest of Gisborne.

SH35 was closed between Tatapouri, about 14km east of Gisborne, and Tokomaru Bay, about 93km northeast of Gisborne.

Meanwhile police were asking motorists heading north out of Wellington this evening to be patient.

Traffic was heavy on SH1 between Pukerua Bay and McKays Crossing, and through Paraparaumu and Waikanae, police central communications said.

But the police northern communications centre reported Auckland traffic moving about normal for a Friday evening.

Traffic had been delayed earlier in the afternoon, with crashes on the southern motorway and possibly many people trying to get away early for the long weekend.

Those travelling by sea were also affected, with bad weather disrupting Cook Strait ferry services.

Interisland Line spokesman Martin Weekes, said the company's ferries had been running about an hour behind because of high winds.

"The Kaitaki will pick that up overnight," said Mr Weekes, the company's passenger services general manager.

It would be back on schedule in the morning, although the Arahura would probably still be a little behind.

He said the Kaitaki had been berthed tonight using a tug, but that usually happened in a southerly just as a precautionary measure.

"The ships are more than able to deal with this kind of weather."

- NZPA