Delayed response from Watercare as Point Chevalier street in Auckland floods

The flooded De Luen St in Pt Chevalier. Photo / via Twitter, @publicaddress

Water is bursting from the ground, submerging one end of a Point Chevalier street.

Russell Brown, a freelance journalist, posted videos online showing a flooded De Luen St.

Update. I hope Watercare show up soon. This is a lot of water … pic.twitter.com/W5h7GQVQMT

— Russell Brown (@publicaddress) August 13, 2022

Torrents of water in our little street – burst main (plus maybe some sort of backup, there's so much water). It's got a lot worse since this video. Watercare said one to two hours. Neighbours' properties starting to flood. pic.twitter.com/gxLhCJZcVN

— Russell Brown (@publicaddress) August 13, 2022

A call operator for Watercare said they received a report about 4pm.

At 6pm, the operator said a crew were yet to attend the incident.

At 6.55pm, Brown tweeted that the water had stopped and a Watercare worker said it would be "hours" before tap water returned.

It's finally stopped! Watercare bloke reckons hours rather than days for tap water to return, which is a relief, but I expect the street corner is hollowed out and will need rebuilding. (Also, this McLeods Good Vibrations DIPA is as good as people say.)

— Russell Brown (@publicaddress) August 13, 2022

Social media users commented on Watercare's delayed response and suggested a call to Fire and Emergency.

The Watercare phone operator said the cause of the delay was a combination of "short staffing" and a high number of callouts today. He said Watercare has responded to 12-13 incidents across Auckland since midday.

When Watercare responded they were "staggered by the volume of water", Brown said.

The cause of the flooding on De Luen St, and the other incidents across the city, remains unclear.