Motorists warned to stay home during storm

1.00pm UPDATE

North Island motorists are being warned to stay home today, with flooding and slips closing roads across the island.

Police are warning motorists to avoid travel, or to drive carefully if they have to venture out.

State Highway One is closed south of Taupo right through to the Desert Road.

The highway is also closed south of Kaitaia in the Far North.

Roads remain open throughout the King Country despite flooding.

Transit New Zealand is considering whether to close State Highway Four between Wanganui and Te Kuiti. It is still closed between Raetihi and Wanganui.

The MetService says the poor weather which has struck the North Island is not over yet.

The tail-end of Cyclone Ivy will bring further rain and strong winds to the east of Northland, Coromandel Peninsula and East Cape today.

Those regions could also experience strong winds.

The weather is taking its toll on the central North Island where another river has broken its banks, forcing further evacuations.

Four houses alongside the Tauranga-Taupo River have been flooded. The settlement is just 12 kilometres north of Turangi, where around 100 residents were forced to leave their homes overnight after the Tongariro River overflowed.

Turangi locals and emergency services are hurriedly sandbagging both river systems in an effort to prevent more flooding. Civil Defence officials say they need more volunteers to assist.

Meanwhile, the floodwaters from the Tongariro River are receding and most of the evacuees in Turangi are returning to assess the damage.

Sixteen houses alongside the Tongariro River are the worst affected.

About a hundred homes were evacuated at Turangi after the Tongariro River burst its banks.

Police say from 11 o'clock last night there was significant flooding caused by swollen rivers at the southern end of the Lake Taupo catchment area feeding into the Tongariro River.

Homes along the river at Turangi were evacuated, with some residents reporting water rising to above their window sills. Furniture was also seen floating in the streets.

Dozens of people have been sheltering in Turangi's St John Hall and at the local marae.

Civil Defence staff and police are working to clear the debris, and they say there is considerable damage.

The flood has washed away footbridges and vegetation.

Search and Rescue say the river peaked in excess of 1,000 cubic metres per second per second, when itnormally runs at 16 cubic metres per second per second.

It follows heavy rain which has affected most of the North Island and the north and west of the South Island.


Bad weather left around 3,000 Auckland homes without power yesterday but it was restored this morning.

Vector spokeswoman Sharon Williamson says most of the outages were caused by trees falling on power lines.

She says crews worked overnight to restore power to most homes, and this morning there are no major faults.

Ms Williamson says some homes were without power for three or four hours.

- Newstalk ZB