Firefighters have used a boat to rescue multiple people from their cars who were trapped in floodwaters on Friday afternoon.
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said they were alerted to the situation on Blackridge Rd, Dairy Flat, north of Auckland, at 4.37pm.
“After a crew made it to the scene, they were able to source a boat to carry out rescues. All persons are now accounted for and all cars have been checked.”
Video from a resident of Blackridge Rd shows the street under water.
Zahra, whose dad’s home is on the road, said it was the second time it had flooded, following the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.
This time was far worse.
”I mean it was pretty bad, it was similar to that, but this time you can actually see like the current, it’s quite strong. Dad said that it had gone up quite quickly, like way quicker than the last time.
“They do have like a small little creek that runs along the house. He’s on the second floor and it’s come up through the bottom.”
She said her dad told her his neighbour attempted to come home but was stopped by the “river of water that came towards them”.
“They had to get rescued from, I would assume the fire department because they couldn’t get through. I think they might have hit the oncoming river.”
Auckland Emergency Management tweeted that police had evacuated some households on Blackridge Rd.
“If you are in the area and you feel unsafe in your home, a shelter has been opened at the Dairy Flats Community Hall at 4 Postman Road. There is blankets, tea/coffee and kai.”
As the heavy rain hit, Auckland Emergency Management duty controller Adam Maggs warned residents to stay vigilant.
“We really want people to stay in place if they can, avoid travelling on the road if you can, a lot of surface flooding is occurring. Lots of pockets of heavy downpours are going to continue until midnight. The key thing is, if you are in areas that have seen land movement and slips previously, if that’s making you feel uncomfortable, move and get out of there.”
Auckland Emergency Management issued an Emergency Mobile Alert at 5.11pm due to the heightened risk of further landslides and flash flooding in Bethells Beach, Karekare, Muriwai and Piha.
An emergency alert was also issued for Rodney, Helensville, Upper Harbour, Te Atatu and Henderson Valley at 5.19pm.
“The alert has been issued due to an active line of thunderstorms which has brought high intensity, localised downpours,” EMA said.
Maggs said it was difficult to pinpoint where the thunderstorms would hit hardest. He said the emergency alerts are a “precautionary measure”.
Earlier, WeatherWatch posted a message on Twitter that “one or two months’ worth of rain is going to fall in some places today (and already has done north of the city in rural areas)”.
Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said a cold front that had been moving north had “stalled out” over Auckland, “and that’s going to act as a focal point for the development of heavy showers”.
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