Cleanup continues in North Island but roads still closed

Residents on the Coromandel Peninsula awoke to instructions today to stay at home as the flood cleanup continued.

State highways were open at first light today but the Thames Coromandel District Council said all its roads in all settlements and towns were likely to stay closed for some time until flood waters disappeared.

Brad Wilkinson from the Thames Coromandel District Council said they realised it was a very widespread closure but unless people had an emergency they should stay at home.

"Unless they absolutely need to be out on those roads I would stay well clear," he said today.

Firefighters were stood down today after the deluge of heavy rain made some houses uninhabitable, closed roads and brought slips down throughout the peninsula.

Some smaller areas were cut off by flood waters for several hours until the water drained away and the roads could be reopened.

Flooding on Auckland's North Shore also caused serious problems for houseowners on Oteha Valley Road near Albany and some areas of the Wairau Valley in Glenfield and Red Beach, north of Auckland.

The flood waters entered basements and garages, brought down powerlines and was too much for some roofs which leaked water into houses.

In Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsula, 175mm of rain fell over 24 hours and firefighters pumped out the town's sewage ponds after rising stream levels overflowed their banks.

North of Waihi at Golden Cross the heaviest fall of the 24 hour period was recorded when 204mm of rain fell, most of it in six hours early yesterday morning.

Today the Fire Service said they had had no calls to Auckland or the Coromandel Peninsula.

However, police said although most roads were open except council roads, they were advising drivers to take extreme care, particularly where the roads had been damaged.

More bad weather had been predicted for today.

In Auckland there was torrential rain shortly after 6am but it lasted only about 15 minutes and caused no problems.

The MetService said the Coromandel could expect between 25mm and 40mm of rain again today and some further flooding could result although it was not expected to be as bad as yesterday.

Northland and Tauranga were also warned there could be a lot of rain and some flooding.

Some of the flood-damaged Coromandel houses which have been declared no-go zones were holiday homes and uninhabited when the floods hit.

The Thames Coromandel District Council said no one would be allowed back into the damaged homes until they had been inspected.

Many roads in the area were badly damaged by floodwaters, including the road through the Karangahape Gorge between Paeroa and Waihi.

Motorists said halfway through the gorge at Waikino the Ohinemuri River rose several metres to the road and was close to the level of the floods in 1981 which swept away houses and shops opposite the hotel.

- NZPA