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Heavy rain and slips closed a highway, brought down power lines, washed out a seawall and isolated households as more than 200mm of rain drenched parts of the country.
Northland was the worst hit. Contractors worked yesterday to clear slips blocking Kent Rd and Old Hospital Rd in Whangaroa that left about 25 households isolated for a time on Saturday, although they did not lose power and water supplies.
Road crews were expected to have cleared the worst slip, on Old Hospital Rd, by last night, Far North District Council spokeswoman Alison Lees said.
Down the road, another slip on State Highway 10 between the Kaeo River Bridge and Kaeo brought down power lines, cutting power to Kaeo and its oyster processing plant.
Top Energy line crews restored power overnight on Saturday, but the highway was closed north of Kaeo at least twice during the day and night as floodwaters combined with high tides to make the road impassable for most vehicles.
Dip Rd and Hospital Rd in Kaeo were under a metre of water, but Ms Lees said no main roads were closed yesterday.
"We might find a few problems on other [local] roads early this week," she said.
At Paihia, storm surges undermined a footpath along the beachfront and part of a road, and took away chunks of a seawall.
Lines company Vector said electricity problems were at their worst at Te Hana, north of Wellsford, where 500 homes were blacked out.
The weather is also thought to have played a part in a serious crash on State Highway 1 at Dome Valley, near Warkworth.
Police believe a driver lost control and his vehicle slid across the road, running head-on into two cars. One woman was badly hurt and another person had moderate injuries.
During Friday and up to 6pm on Saturday, Kaeo had 204mm of rain - 117mm falling on Friday and 87mm on Saturday.
Northland Regional Council hydrologist Dale Hansen said Kaitaia recorded about 90mm during the same period, while in central Northland, Ohaeawai got 197mm, the Kerikeri hills 122mm on Saturday, Puhipuhi (north of Whangarei) 225mm and Whangarei 98mm.
Metservice forecaster Andy Downs said the Coromandel Range was hit by about 150mm of rain.
Further south, Nelson was hit by up to 140mm, Richmond had 112mm and up to 200mm of rain fell on parts of the West Coast.
Three boats were washed off their moorings in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour on Saturday.
Two were recovered before they could hit rocks, but a yacht was washed ashore at Tamaki Drive and holed.
In West Auckland a man had to be cut free from his car after it overturned on a slippery road in Titirangi.
High winds were forecast on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and motorists were advised to drive with extreme care.
The Coastguard Northern Region advised boaties to stay at home as the harbour surface chopped up.
On Auckland's North Shore, several trees were blown down, causing a minor power cut to parts of Castor Bay and Milford.
Many householders who did not bring in their wheelie bins after the rubbish collection on the North Shore had to walk some distance to collect them after they were blown over and took off in the high winds.
The Fire Service reported few road accidents from the slippery conditions on Saturday night, but urged motorists to take care.
The wet weather caused Auckland's Starlight Symphony at the Domain to be postponed until last night, and the Two Handed Round North Island yacht race was delayed until yesterday.
The national rowing championships on Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge, began on time although the lake surface was rough.
But despite the wet weather, most places were warm, many reaching a maximum of 20C.
Alexandra reached a maximum of 32C on Saturday.
Mr Downs said the northeasterly winds that hit the country created a relatively warm and humid atmosphere.
- additional reporting NZPA
