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Flood waters have drenched the top of the North Island, sweeping away buildings, closing roads and cutting power in areas from the Far North to the Bay of Plenty.
Police said there had been "no confirmed reports" of loss of life but that several people had been rescued after being swept away.
Two children and two adults have been trapped by flood waters in a house at Punaruku, on the Whangaruru Harbour, Newstalk ZB reported in its 7pm bulletin.
Northland police are urging residents in the Bay of Islands' town of Opua to evacuate their homes and go to the Opua Cruising Club, due to cliff-top slips endangering several properties.
Several buildings - including the motel at Haruru Falls and a house at Waioimo - are reported to have been swept away by flood waters, police said.
Emergency Civil Defence Operating Centres have been set up in Kaikohe and Whangarei in response to the severe weather, which saw two months' of rain fall in the Far North over 24 hours.
An emergency shelter has been set up for Waipapa residents at the Waipapa Community Hall, for Kerikeri residents at the Kerikeri Ambulance Centre and Kawakawa residents at the Kawakawa Ambulance Centre.
MetService was predicting thunderstorms and up to 60mm of rain at around 5pm, when high tide was due.
Emergency centre manager Graeme MacDonald said Northlanders needed to brace themselves for severe flooding.
He said the flooding seemed to be worst around Kerikeri and Kaeo.
Coastguard alerts
The Coastguard has been under pressure as the heavy weather caused havoc throughout the north.
It said seven kayakers went missing in the Haruru Falls area of the Waitangi River and one woman was left clinging to a rock before all were rescued.
Local vessels were later used to retrieve a man struggling in flood waters in the Whangae River near Opua.
The Coastguard said it received multiple calls from the public advising of eight vessels adrift in the Kerikeri inlet.
In a statement it said a woman issued a distress call on board a boat in the Kerikeri inlet:
"She watched as other boats around her one by one broke free, until she was the only yacht left. As the debris and pressure built up she was concerned for her safety which prompted her to issue the distress."
Stranded
The Tutukaka Coast east of Whangarei was left isolated by early this afternoon as all possible routes in were closed by slips and flooding.
The weather also cut off Great Barrier Island from transport to the mainland with no flights or boats in or out of the island.
Telecom said a fault caused by flooding had affected its services north of Kerikeri. It said most customers would still have local calling but might not be able to make calls to other national or international locations.
"111 Emergency service access has been prioritised and provided for most
locations by a back-up radio system," it said. The site of the fault was under water, meaning it might not be repairable until flood waters receded.
Telecom mobile sites at Kaingaroa North, Hokianga, Mangonui, Whangaroa, Kerikeri and Kaitaia have also been affected.
Road chaos
Meanwhile, Around 200 vehicles were stranded on State Highway 10, which is closed at Kaeo, while up to 150 children and tourists were trapped on buses on State Highway 11 between Kawakawa and Paihia.
Northland Police this afternoon said State Highway One had been closed at Kawakawa, Waipu, Waiomio, Te Ahuahu, Whakapara, Portland in Whangarei and the Kamo Bypass.
State Highway 10 has been closed at the Bulls Gorge south of Kerikeri, Kaeo and between Maunganui to State Highway One. Ngungururu Rd in Whangarei, Waipapa Rd at Kawakawa and Rainbow Falls Road in Kerikeri are among other roads also closed.
Transit tonight said State Highway 12 through Dargaville was down to one lane and that State Highway 14 from Whangarei to Dargaville was damaged and motorists should on that route should drive carefully or avoid travelling all together.
Cars travelling over the Auckland Harbour Bridge were down to 30km/h this afternoon as visibility reduced to barely 30metres and strong gusts of wind rocked cars.
On the Northern Motorway traffic was reduced to a crawl of around 20km/h in low visibility.
Power cuts
Around 12,000 Bay of Islands residents are without power because of the heavy rain.
A tree has fallen across lines supplying power to Russell cutting power to local network Top Energy's customers.
Top Energy chief executive Roger de Bray said contractors could access the ferry from Opua to Russell because the road to Opua was closed.
A handful of Auckland suburbs remain without power due to the bad weather.
Some houses in Waiheke Island, Maraetai, Kaukapakapa and Glenfield are affected.
Fallen power lines at Ngongataha and on Te Ngae Road also blacked out much of Rotorua.
Powerco tonight said 7000 people in and around Tauranga lost power earlier today after a cable fault caused an outage at two inner city substations. Power was restored early this afternoon, it said.
Tropical Cyclone Becky
Tropical Cyclone Becky is being held responsible for the bad weather. The storm currently heading towards eastern New Caledonia has now been caught up in the jet stream which is feeding Becky's moisture into a low near New Zealand.
Up to 70mm is expected to fall before midnight tonight with 50mm possibly being dumped in just a two hour period in some regions this evening, due to thunderstorms.
Several other warnings have been issued for the North Island and some parts of the South Island.
Radio Network head forecaster Philip Duncan said more heavy rain was on the way for northern New Zealand tonight, as a low in the Tasman Sea continues to suck saturated air from the tropics.
He said the risk of flooding was high in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty until Friday morning.
He said Tropical Cyclone Becky was now a Category 1 Tropical Cyclone and was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the next day as it runs into the jet stream which he said "literally rips cyclones apart".
Mr Duncan said the low in the Tasman had been pulling moisture from around Becky over the past 24 hours but the rain was likely to ease in most places on Friday.
The historic Stone Store and Kemp House at Kerikeri were evacuated today and several roads were closed and likely to remain so for 12 hours until after high tide.
Artefacts, archives and other treasures were being moved to safety in anticipation of the waters rising even higher.
Sherry Reynolds at the Historic Places Trust, said: "Our main concern though is the Kerikeri Mission House and Stone Store - it's the buildings themselves that are the real treasures."
MetService weather warning issued at 3.17pm:
A strong very moist northeast flow has spread rain over much of northern and central New Zealand.
Very heavy rain has already fallen over much of Northland today. Intense rainfalls over southern Northland are now spreading onto Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula.
Heavy rainfalls are expected to spread into Bay of Plenty and northern parts of Gisborne tonight. Some heavy rain is also expected in the ranges of northwest Nelson through to early Friday morning.
People in these areas should watch out for rapidly rising streams and rivers. Driving conditions are likely to be hazardous with widespread surface flooding.
Latest forecasts from MetService
AA road closure news
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZHERALD STAFF, NZPA
