Wild Weather across the country has flooded the Coromandel. Source - Alexsandra Matthews
Frightened holidaymakers were forced to navigate floods and slips on Coromandel roads yesterday after torrential rain swept across the upper North Island.
Philippa McIver was travelling with her family from Te Mata on the Coromandel's east coast to Auckland when she came across a slip: "It was terrifying. The water that we were driving past was swelling over the road, there were waterfalls, a couple of slips that were almost completely blocking the road.
"We had a couple of times when the car was sliding a bit."
They reached Tairua but the last road out had been closed so they headed to a hotel and managed to snap up the last room.
The SH16 north slip road was closed at Lincoln Rd due to flooding. Photo / Michael Craig
"My husband's got a meeting [today] in Auckland which people have flown in from overseas for. But he's most likely going to be trapped here."
Near Ohinewai in the Waikato, a truck driver had to escape through a window of his vehicle when it left the road and became submerged in floodwaters. The driver was unharmed.
MetService meteorologist Melissa Oosterwijk said 85mm of rain fell in Whitiangi in just 18 hours yesterday. The region usually gets about 200mm of rain throughout the entire month of July.
Most areas of Auckland had between 40mm to 60mm of rain, though at one point there was 30mm in just an hour in Albany.
A horse at Whananaki, Northland. Photo / Cathy Casey
Oosterwijk said the worst was over although there would still be occasional downpour in Auckland, Coromandel and the Waikato throughout today.
The low would continue moving down the country but the southern parts would escape the hammering that had been experienced further north.
The Thames Coromandel District Council warned that State Highway 25 could remain closed until this morning while slips continued to be cleared.
A slip covers the Thames Coast Rd. Photo / Ember Gunn
State Highway 25 was closed at Manaia and again from Whitianga to Kaimarama due to flooding while State Highway 25A (Kopu- Hikuai Rd) and the Thames Coast Rd 3km south of Tapu were closed by slips.
Kaiaua took a pounding, a major slip closing East Coast Rd about 2km north of Waharau. Miranda Rd was also closed near Findlay Rd.
The on-ramp south at Oteha Valley Rd, Northern Motorway, was closed. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Earlier in the day the weather left its mark on Auckland, causing the closures of Tamaki Drive and the Oteha Valley motorway on-ramp on the North Shore.
Meanwhile, one family were forced out of their home when a tree toppled on to their Whangaparaoa house.
Gusts of up to 113km/h were recorded in the Hauraki Gulf while Albany recorded 31.3mm of rain between 7am and 8am yesterday - the third-wettest hour since records for that area began almost nine years ago, according to Niwa.Staff reporters
