Hit refresh for the latest updates on the storm throughout the day
KEY POINTS:
Live updates as they happened, until 4pm today
3.54pm The Bay of Plenty squad is struggling to get to Blenheim for tonight's Air New Zealand Cup opener against Tasman.
The storm currently making its way down the South Island is playing havoc with the team's travel plans. Airport closures yesterday forced the team from Tauranga to Auckland, then to Christchurch, and then by bus as far as Kaikoura. Coach Kevin Schuler says they are only about 45 minutes away from Blenheim but they are now having problems with the team bus.
3.38pm: Power has been restored to 17,500 of around 18,200 customers connected to Powerco's electricity network who were affected by the severe storm which hit the North Island yesterday.
Powerco Network Operations Manager Ross Dixon said around 700 consumers remained without power however repair crews were out in the field and making good progress.
Mr Dixon said areas affected include Bunnythorpe, Linton, Mangamaire, Motorua, Te Matai, Mataroa, Ohakune, Wairarapa and Wanganui.
3.28pm: Residents at Amberley Beach, about 50km north of Christchurch, are being evacuated ahead of a high tide which is expected to flood the settlement.
Fire and police are beginning to evacuate residents ahead of the 3.20pm high tide, the Hurunui District Council said. People with their own transport are being advised to leave, while buses are being provided for others.
Two welfare centres have been set up for people who require them at Leithfield School and Amberley Domain.
3.27pm: Police have released the name of the man missing in the river on Waikare Valley Rd in Northland.
He is Kerry Michael Witt, aged 40 years, of Kawakawa.
2.57pm: Heavy rain bands are now moving back into North Island areas, from Northland to Wellington, along the west coast and inland to central areas, says radio Network weather analyst Philip Duncan.
1.54pm: Cobden, Greymouth, resident Kay Pollock says high winds today have been terrifying in the suburb. Her husband, Chief Fire officer Gary Pollock, was out for 17 hours with emergency crews, council and volunteers helping people deal with the havoc.
Mrs Pollock says huge trees uprooted and damaged roofs show the force of the storm.
- Newstalk ZB
12.56pm: Gisborne's Civil Defence officer is surprised at the level of damage in the district from seven days of rain.
Richard Steele says there are slips on many properties but the rain they have had has not been huge compared with other weather events. He suspects December's earthquake may have contributed to the larger than expected number of slips.
Six people evacuated from the Mangatuna home yesterday as a precaution have this morning been allowed to return.
A number of roads to the west of Gisborne remain closed due to surface flooding.
- Newstalk ZB
12.30pm:Police say that roading contractors in Canterbury are running short on signs to cover the extent of flooding and road closures all over Canterbury.
Police have issued a warning telling motorists to take heed of all road signs and to be aware that when a road is open, further roads may be closed but are not able to be advised.
"The best advice we can give is to avoid all travel which is not absolutely necessary," says Inspector Mike Coulter.
12.02pm: Forty passengers on a cruise ship have been treated by doctors after their ship was hit by high seas in the storm.
The Pacific Sun, which was about 600km north of Auckland, was hit by seven metre swells and 50 knot winds when it rolled sharply just before 8 pm last night.
The Pacific Sun's two doctors and three nurses treated the injured passengers onboard.
"I would like to assure the friends and families of our passengers that they are in good care onboard the ship," a P&O Cruises spokesperson said.
The ship, which was due to return to Auckland this morning, has been delayed by at least 24 hours due to the bad weather.
The ship is carrying 1732 passengers and 671 crew on a return from an eight day cruise in the South Pacific.
11:50am: Police release the name of the woman, who died in the river at Waikare.
She was Lavona Cherrington, aged 49 years, from Kawakawa.
The initial post mortem showed that she died from drowning.
11.37am: The main road of Kaikoura has seaweed on it this morning after the high tide washed across the road way.
Kaikoura District Council emergency management officer Mike Kennedy said no one was evacuated in the area despite the slips and localised flooding.
He said farmers had told him they had 190mm and 140mm by 9.30pm last night. He said they would have got another 80mm overnight.
10.46am: A state of emergency remained in place in Marlborough this morning, while emergency operations centres were opened around the Canterbury region.
Environment Canterbury said Leithfield Beach, Amberley and Amberley Beach were among those affected by flooding.
Councils were also closely monitoring the Selwyn, Heathcote and Avon rivers, which had dangerously high water levels.
Many roads in urban and rural areas in Canterbury were closed. Canterbury Civil Defence advised against travel on low-lying roads in the Kaikoura, Hurunui and Waimakariri districts.
The weather has also disrupted rail, with network manager Ontrack reporting a closure on the main line between Picton and Christchurch.
Ontrack spokesman Kevin Ramshaw said flooding, slips and debris had affected the track in areas north of Kaikoura, near Sefton and between Picton and Blenheim.
A slip in the Buller Gorge had also closed the Stillwater-Westport line.
10.45am: The Palmerston North to Gisborne line remained closed due to slips but passenger services from Wellington, including the main trunk line, have reopened after disruptions yesterday.
* Nelson was today dealing with water problems after falling trees damaged a major pipeline.
Infrastructure divisional manager Fraser Galloway said about 300 trees had been felled by winds on council land alone - some of which were significant heritage trees.
* In the Horowhenua district, most of more than 18,000 customers who lost power last night after winds brought down branches and power lines, were reconnected this morning.
* Interislander ferry sailings were on schedule today, but the operators said passengers heading south from Picton needed to check road conditions.
10.24am: In the Coromandel, the Kopu-Hikuai Gorge is now closed as road crews clear slips and debris from SH25. It is likely to be closed until about 2pm.
All other roads throughout the peninsula are open, except SH25 between Coromandel and Whangapoua, which remains closed due to a large slip.
Flooding has largely receded in the area and weather conditions are now good.
- James Ihaka
10.10am: One house has suffered severe flooding in the small South Island town of Sefton after 12 people were evacuated and spent the night in the local school hall last night.
Waimakariri District Council spokeswoman Monese Ball said residents of the flooded house are staying with relatives.
She said the reticulated water supply in the area is safe to drink but those on well supplies should boil their water first.
Ms Ball said the other evacuees have returned to their homes this morning.
Inspector Alan Weston said roads in Christchurch and the Waimakariri area have surface flooding and motorists should take extreme care.
9.44am: Telecom is urging customers to restrict their calls as power lines remain down around the country and telephone exchanges are forced to rely on back-up power from batteries and generators.
9.08am: North Shore City Council's civil defence and emergency manager David Keay said engineers are trying to stabilise the slip in the suburb of Torbay this morning.
"They're going to drive a series of pipes into the face of it in an endeavour to get the water that's obviously there out of it, and in so doing, hopefully stabilise the forward movement," Mr Keay said.
He said the test results could be back today but it could also be several days.
8.36am: Latest MetService weather warning:
The large low which has brought stormy weather over the past day or two is now draped across central New Zealand. On its southern side, southeasterlies over the South Island are bringing rain in eastern districts.
The rain has eased in much of Marlborough but heavy falls continue this morning on the Kaikoura Coast and Canterbury. During this afternoon the rain should ease in areas north of the Waimakariri River but continue until tonight in areas farther south, then ease overnight.
The prolonged period of rain will continue to raise river levels and surface flooding is possible in some areas also.
Showery northwesterlies are expected over the North Island today but winds are slowly easing and wind warnings have been lifted.
8.17am: SH2 at the Rimutaka Summit north of Wellington has a lane blocked after two slips.
8.15am: Severe flooding and swollen rivers has closed SH1 between Blenheim and Woodend.
7.58am: Police this morning issued warnings to residents and motorists on the east coast between Picton and Christchurch.
* In Nelson, a major water pipeline was damaged by falling trees and authorities have asked residents to minimise water use as a result.
* Inspector Alan Weston from police southern communications said about a dozen residents from Sefton, north of Christchurch, had also been evacuated because of flooding and were staying in a local school hall.
* Flooding also forced the closure of State Highway 1 between Blenheim and Kaikoura, and emergency services were warning of flooding dangers in many parts of Canterbury and Marlborough, including Christchurch city.
* The rain eased overnight in much of the North Island but northerly gales were continuing in northern parts of the island.
WEDNESDAY
5.29pm: One North Shore home has been completely destroyed in a slip, with another 14 homes at risk, a North Shore Council spokesman says.
The affected homes are at the bottom of a slip on Lingham Crescent in Torbay.
4.51pm: A state of emergency has been declared by Marlborough District Council.
Francis Maher, chairman of the council's assets and services committee, signed the declaration at 3pm after advice from council staff and at the request of the police.
The council said the persistent rain from the storm lashing the country was causing problems and in some areas evacuations were under way.
4.47pm: Around 10,000 customers connected to Powerco's electricity network remain without power across the North Island.
4.33pm: A large slip in the North Shore suburb of Torbay threatens several houses.
3.35pm: Dome Valley reopens for all SH1 traffic.
2.25pm: A group of school children are trapped at a Hawke's Bay school after the storm sweeping the country knocked over a tree, bringing down powerlines and cutting off the school's only road.
About eight children and three teachers at Elsthorpe School, a rural primary school in central Hawke's Bay, are waiting for the powerlines to be cleared and the tree to be moved.
1.54pm: Police report that they have found multiple cases of surface flooding on SH1 between Blenheim and Kaikoura.
* SH57 near Levin is closed between Shannon and Opiki due to a slip and trees on the road.
1.35pm: The Bay of Plenty tornado snapped a power pole in Omanu, Tauranga and cut a path through a concentrated area of the suburb of Arataki ripping roof tiles off houses.
A large tree was pulled out of the ground and fences were knocked over. There were no injuries.
- Juliet Rowan
12.59am: New MetService warning as storm moves south:
The large low which has brought heavy rain and high winds to much of the North Island continues to drift southwards onto the area west of the North Island, MetService says.
Its associated band of heavy rain has now passed over Northland, Auckland,Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and western Bay of Plenty. It should move off Bay of Plenty early afternoon and the rain should ease in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay later this afternoon.
Severe easterly gales over the lower half of the North Island should gradually ease from the north during the afternoon or evening.
However, a belt of strong north to northwest winds is expected to spread onto northern districts, rising to severe gale in exposed parts of Northland for a time this evening and possibly in Taranaki overnight.
As the rain spreads southwards, heavy falls should develop over eastern Marlborough, some parts of the Nelson ranges and the Canterbury hills and ranges this afternoon, lasting into Thursday.
Snow is likely above 600 or 700 metres in the Canterbury foothills. Easterly gales are spreading over northern South Island with severe gale gusts, especially in the west from Nelson to Westland.
Heavy swells and high seas are expected about eastern coasts.
12.16pm: A woman's body has been found in a swollen stream near Kawakawa in Northland.
Police confirmed a woman, reportedly in her 40s, had been pulled from the Waikare River in Waikare Valley Road.
Police don't know if the woman was with anyone when she was taken by the river but have mounted a search and rescue mission in the flooded area.
11.44am: Parts of the Coromandel are cut off with Vodafone coverage down in parts and many roads and schools closed because of flooding.
Access in and out of Whitianga is closed with a massive slip enveloping the entire road between the town and Kuaotunu. And State Highway 25 south to Tairua is also closed due to flooding although police believe this should recede about midday today.
More than 160mm of rain fell in parts of the Coromandel overnight with Golden Valley Senior constable Arama Chase of Tairua police said parts of Hikuai and Pauanui on State Highway 25 were under more than a metre of water.
"It's pretty unreal, there are big trucks coming through and the water is right up to their doors so that shows you how bad the flooding is."
Meanwhile, the small settlement of Manaia, about 12 km south of Coromandel, is also submerged with one local saying the four foot of water there "is swimmable" and access to Thames is down to one lane.
- James Ihaka
11.32am: Police in the central North Island say they are dealing with a lot of incidents due to flooding and slips.
Sergeant Marc Clausen said police had received a large volume of calls reporting trees across roads and big wind gusts in the Manawatu, Horowhenua areas right up to Waiouru.
"As this weather seems to be moving south, drivers are advised to take extreme care travelling on any roads in bottom half of the North Island.
"Drivers should be travelling with headlights on and increase their followng distances. Also be prepared to stop quickly in the event that there is debris on the road."
11.15am: Thames Hospital reports that many staff were unable to get to work today because of road closures due to flooding. Some of those at work today may have to leave early to attend to family and property and also avoid being stranded.
Clinics at Thames Hospital continue today.
But a spokeswoman said women about to deliver a baby should keep in contact with their midwife.
10.44am: A Tornado has truck Tauranga and Mt Maunganui. There are reports of some damage.
10.25am: The Karangahake Gorge remains closed from Paeroa to Waihi with water spilling over the road in some areas. Juliet Rowan at the scene says the river is a "large brown torrent" and waterfalls can be seen falling over paddocks in the area. There are many slips in the gorge itself. A works Infrastructure spokeswoman said the water may be receding.
9.58am: Whangarei Police have criticised a pig hunter who they spent last night searching for in atrocious conditions.
The 60-year-old man went missing in the Waitangi Forest but turned up safe and well this morning.
Twenty two people, including Police Search and Rescue and Northland LandSAR volunteers, spent last night in severe weather conditions searching for the man.
They found the man around 8am today walking along a forest road.
He had slipped down a gully while chasing after his dogs yesterday and injured his ankle.
He then decided to bed down for the night and built himself a shelter.
The man's ankle suffered a minor twist and he did not need any medical treatment.
Police say due to the strong wind and rain the man most likely did not hear the searchers' calls and whistles.
Northland Police Operations Manager Inspector Murray Hodson said police and volunteer staff demonstrated excellent skills and knowledge in atrocious weather conditions.
"One of the clear messages we need to communicate to people is that they need to check the immediate and long term weather forecast before venturing out, as the conditions can change quite fast."
Mr Hodson says police and volunteers put themselves at extreme risk in searching for missing people and the rescues are carried out at a huge financial cost.
"It defies logic as to why people want to go out in such bad conditions when they could wait a couple of days for the weather to settle."
9.42am: Environment Bay of Plenty staff are monitoring river levels after a drenching overnight.
Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty received approximately 45mm of rain since 9pm yesterday. Whakatane has received around 22mm of rain and Rotorua has received approximately 14mm of rain.
Winds of around 80km hit Tauranga between 4am and 5am.
Environment Bay of Plenty Rivers and Drainage Group Manager Ken Tarboton said the situation was being continuously monitored and staff were on standby.
"We had a reasonably calm night and we are not expecting flood levels to rise to first warning levels until late afternoon or early evening dependant on how much more rain falls and over what timeframe. Environment Bay of Plenty staff are continuing to monitor rivers and catchment areas around the region. Any farmers with stock on low lying ground are advised to move them up to higher ground," Mr Tarboton said.
Rain is expected to ease in western Bay of Plenty late morning and in the eastern Bay of Plenty by early afternoon.
9.40am: The Far North District Council reports that Mangakahia Rd is closed by a slip at the twin bridges. They estimate it will take four hours to clear.
Broadwood Rd closed by a slip by the Broadwood School. It, too, should take four hours to clear.
9.25am: Transit New Zealand has just said that SH1 north of Warkworth through the Dome Valley remains closed to traffic.
However, SH16 is now passable though down to a single lane in places.
Transit Regional Network Operations Manager, Joseph Flanagan, said in a media release that only motorists who need to travel between Northland and Auckland use the SH16 route at present as journey times will be slow while road crews repair the road.
Mr Flanagan said state highways throughout Northland are open and passable but are also down to a single lane in places as slips and potholes are repaired and debris cleared. This includes SH1 through the Brynderwyns and SH1 south of Kaitaia.
Transit expects road conditions throughout Northland and Auckland south of Wellford should improve during the day as the worst of the storm passes and road crews succeed in repairing damage. He expects SH1 through Dome Valley to be open once more by early afternoon.
9.20am: Vector Energy has had only a few faults to deal with so far.
A spokesman said: "We have had only one trip on Waiheke. Customers have been restored. We have had three High Voltage faults. All customers have been restored, with the exception of a few customers in Karekare who will be restored later this morning."
Crews are also working to repair damage to the hot water network in the Manly, Belmont, Hauraki and Ngataringa Bay areas and it may still be sometime before hot water is restored in those areas.
9.16am: The Far North district has emerged largely unscathed from the storm, says the local council. The only road closed in the district this morning is Mangakahia Road at Twin Bridges where a slip has been reported.
There is limited access on SH1 where the bridge is flooding at the base of Turntable Hill. Traffic is banking up at Moerewa and motorists should consider diverting through SH11.
Key civil defence staff remained on call during what transpired to be a relatively quiet night last night with sporadic calls about fallen trees, minor slips and surface flooding, a spokesman said.
9.13am: Police appeal to "idiots" to slow down in the wet conditions.
Inspector Matt Sillars from the police northern communications centre in Auckland said: "Some of these idiots drive straight through a flooded part of the road and think it is huge fun, but all they do is flood cars and suddenly we have got blockages and it creates other problems for us."
9.10am: The Radio Network's Weather Watch Centre is reporting that rain has now cleared Auckland as the main frontal band shifts southwards. Rain has also eased over Northland.
Philip Duncan, head weather analyst, says it will clear Coromandel, Waikato and Bay of Plenty over the next couple of hours but some isolated torrential falls could cause slips and flooding along eastern and central parts of Coromandel Peninsular including Whitianga.
He said: "The ground is absolutely saturated from Waikato northwards. The showers that are now moving in across northern New Zealand will be isolated and very heavy and may cause localised flash and surface flooding."
Mr Duncan says the heaviest rain is now moving into the central North Island and will set in to Wellington, Nelson and Blenheim with gales building - and they'll be severe along the South Island's west coast.
9.03am: The latest warning from MetService issued in the past hour says the heaviest rain is now over Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula and will soon move into Bay of Plenty and the North Island's east coast.
Over 200mm has so far fallen in parts of the Coromandel Ranges and
more heavy rain is expected there until late morning, MetService said. As the rain spreads southwards, heavy falls should develop over astern Marlborough some parts of the Nelson ranges and the Canterbury hills and ranges this afternoon, lasting into Thursday.
Snow is likely above 500 metres in the Canterbury foothills.
Easterly gales are spreading over much of the North Island and
northern South Island and severe gale gusts are likely in many
western areas from Taranaki to Westland. Heavy swells and high seas are expected about eastern coasts.
9.00am: Palmerston North Police are currently dealing with an accident on SH57 near Tokomaru involving a truck and trailer, which has rolled onto its side and is blocking both lanes. There are currently very strong wind gusts in the area, says Sergeant Marc Clausen.
8.50am: Police in the North Shore and Rodney district say an increasing number of roads are having to be closed and people should stay at home "unless travel is absolutely necessary".
8.37am: The Coromandel is suffering from the storm with around 20 schools closed and freight trucks unable to leave the area, says Herald reporter James Ihaka.
There is a metre of water on the road from Tairua to Whitianga.
8.31am: Residents in flood-prone Kaeo in Northland are breathing a sigh of relief after the settlement appeared to escape serious flooding overnight, says Herald reporter Elizabeth Binning.
She said it was not currently raining though there are many flooded paddocks and some minor roads are unpassable to smaller cars.
8.23am: Herald reporter Juliet Rowan in the Bay of Plenty says no major incidents have been reported overnight though the streams around Matata are 200mm above normal.
The Fire Service also attended two cases of damaged roofs in Matata and a fallen tree at Matua.
8.11am: In some areas including Whitianga and Paeroa there is a metre of water over main roads.
Netherton School, on State Highway Two near Paeroa, is closed today. Principal Kim Millwood is asking the 86 pupils to stay at home, as it is just not safe on the roads. She says driving is extremely hazardous in the wind and rain, and some locals are reporting water coming into their houses.
* Hawke's Bay residents are now being warned to batten down the hatches, with heavy rain already starting to hit the region.
8.00am: SH16 north of Auckland re-opens.
7.30am: Latest road closures - Police said this morning that Northland was cut off from the south due to a huge slip on State Highway 1 north of Warkworth and flooding on alternative route SH16.
* A tree fell onto a road and pulled powerlines with it on Paihia Road at Opua on State Highway 11 early today. The road was closed while police and contractors removed them.
* Whangarei District Council spokeswoman Ann Midson said the storm appeared to be passing through Northland quite quickly with less rainfall than expected. However, rivers were still high and the winds blustery.
High tide had passed and the central business district had escaped flooding, she said.
* Two 4.5m pine trees have partially blocked SH29 near the Tauranga suburb of Greerton. The storm also caused a number of slips.
* There was also a large slip on SH1, 2km north of the Dargaville turnoff, and a truck was stuck in mud.
* Another slip was partially blocking SH1 at Pohuehue viaduct south of Warkworth. However traffic was still flowing.
* A bridge on SH17 between the Albany township and the Albany Tavern was underwater earlier today but reopened by 6.20am.
* The Karangahake Gorge SH2 between Paeroa and Waihi was flooded with water around 0.30m deep and nearing being unpassable.
* SH25 south of Whitianga was flooded with water one metre deep and unpassable.
* Kaihikatea Road Dairy Flat was flooded and unlikely to be driveable.
* Woodcocks Road, Warkworth was flooded near to the Helensville end and slips had resulted.
- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB
