Plenty of water but few problems as storm hits Northland

Some flooding in Northland, but Auckland city escaped largely unscathed.

Civil defence workers on alert for flooding and weather problems in the Far North say they have had only had reports of minor damage so far.

High tide was due in the area about 10am today but Far North District Council spokeswoman, Allison Lees said it came and went without causing serious problems.

She said the small town of Kaeo had had some surface flooding but the water was dropping, even as the tide peaked.

"We are just keeping an eye on it. It is looking good because the water level is dropping rapidly and I think we are fine."

Winds gusted to more than 100km/h overnight throughout much of the top half of the North Island and traffic speed on Auckland Harbour Bridge was reduced to 60km/h as a precaution.

More heavy rain and gale force winds were expected over much of Northland today and police and emergency services advised people to stay inside unless their trip was urgent.

On the Coromandel Peninsula up to 180mm of rain was expected by tomorrow morning.

In the eastern Waikato town of Te Aroha, strong winds, estimated to be up to 110km/h, have caused little damage. Small branches have been broken off trees and according to comments posted at weatherwatch.co.nz the fire service has been kept busy this morning. A report also came in of a power outage lasting nearly 2 hours.

"The winds are probably peaking now and should start to ease later this morning or early afternoon. The storm had the potential to bring even stronger winds however the low is tracking further west than initially expected", says Weatherwatch.

Elsewhere the rain is getting its second wind as it becomes heavier across northern New Zealand and spreads to the bottom of the island.

Weatherwatch analyst Philip Duncan says current conditions would put the storm at the lower end of the scale but says it's still a serious one. "It's certainly not causing widespread problems which is great news however it's only just setting in ... we're only about halfway through".

Duncan says the main rain band moving through this afternoon and evening will bring more heavy rain to the top half of the North Island.

The Auckland Coastguard said people had heeded advice to stay off the water the only mishap was a yacht which dragged its anchor near Coromandel and was washed ashore. It was retrieved without damage.

The Fire Service had about 35 calls over a wide area of the North Island from first light today but said they were not concentrated in one area. About 12 houses had roof damage and a few trees were reported to have been blown onto roads but the damage was not extensive.

About 350 houses were reported to have lost power at Kaukapakapa north west of Auckland.

Vector Energy said line gangs were working on the power cuts but said it could not give a time for power to be restored. Weather problems could cause further problems.

Overnight about 8000 homes and businesses lost power for a short time on the North Shore and to the west and north west of Auckland.

One of the biggest weather casualties was the Auckland Racing Club's $2.2 million New Zealand Derby meeting at Ellerslie..

The day's racing was postponed for 24 hours because of the weather outlook.

Police said they had very few reports of damage.

- NZPA, weatherwatch.co.nz