Photo gallery of Northland floodsKEY POINTS:
Thousands of homes north of Auckland and throughout the Far North are still without power and roads remain closed.
Though MetService downgraded its weather warnings this morning, wind and rain continued to lash Northland as gale south easterlies battered Whangarei, and the Coromandel was suffering from the high winds.
The army has been called into the Far North where about 50 people remain homeless and hundreds shelter in marae.
A mammoth clean-up has begun with Transit, firefighters and council staff struggling to cope.
Homes in Northland could be without power until the weekend.
Northpower network services manager Calvin Whaley said a main line on the East coast near Tutukaka is out and the full extent of damage will not be known until it's been fixed.
"It's not looking good. We've had between 10 and 11,000 customers off the supply throughout the area last night.
"Yesterday even our muscly guys couldn't put a ladder up a pole, let alone get up one," Mr Whaley said.
Last night residents ran for cover as ferocious winds tore the roof off their apartment block in Newton during a ferocious storm in which winds hit hurricane-force.
The storm first hit the Far North - where a state of civil emergency remained in force this morning - before moving south and battering Auckland late in the afternoon.
Torrential rain and winds up to 150km/h hit Auckland, the Coromandel and parts of the Waikato overnight.
At Tiritiri Matangi, off the Whangaparaoa peninsula, a wind gust of 180km/h was recorded.
A number of businesses were broken into last night as thieves took advantage of the power black out that hit 140,000 homes and companies.
Inspector Les Paterson, area commander for Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore, said seven businesses there were targeted. He did not believe they would have been the victim of break-ins in normal circumstances.
"Business owners need to think about camping out if the power has failed," Mr Paterson said.
Fire engines from Hamilton were called into the Coromandel after the station at Puriri collapsed, trapping the fire engines.
Up to 60,000 homes in Auckland remained without power this morning after about 140,000 Vector customers were without power at some time overnight.
Vector spokesman Keith FitzPatrick said most of the homes without power are north of the Harbour Bridge from the East Coast Bays, through Orewa and up to Warkworth.
He said crews were working overnight but had to stop when gusts of wind made it too dangerous.
He said some of the 60,000 people will be back on this evening but there will be isolated areas still without power tonight.
The weather emergency caused one of the busiest nights on record for emergency services with more than 2500 calls to the police Northern Communications Centre in Auckland in 10 hours.
Trees came down on houses, roofs were damaged and powerlines blocked roads.
The Sky Tower closed due to the high winds and ferry, rail and road transport was disrupted. Ferries were running again this morning.
In Auckland hundreds of homes on the North Shore were still without power today and the Harbour Bridge was half in darkness because of failed street lights
At 6pm last night police warned people to stay indoors and motorcyclists to stay off the Harbour Bridge after two people were blown off their bikes.
Around 50 residents from the 1 on Ophir apartments, in Ophir St just off Newton Rd, had to be evacuated when severe gusts peeled the roof off their four-storey block about 6.45pm.
Magnus Lehne, 25, and his three flatmates were among those evacuated.
Mr Lehne said the fire alarm sounded minutes before the roof came off. He fled the building and watched from the street as it happened.
"It was a big crack, like something being torn apart.
"A second after we heard the sound, the roof peeled back - just half of it at first; two seconds later the rest came off as well."
He said 10 others were outside and sheltered behind a concrete wall fearing they would be hit by metal roofing.
Residents in the upper levels fled to the covered carpark below for safety.
Noelia Oliveira was in her friend's third-floor apartment when the roof came off. "I thought, 'Oh my God, we are going to die", she said.
Her friend at first thought nothing was wrong and made a joke, said Ms Oliveira, but was reduced to tears when she discovered the truth.
"She's crying a lot."
Auckland Central Fire Station senior station officer Jeff McCulloch said because the roof was flat and slanted upward, the strong gusts created "negative pressure" and peeled it off the building.
"It's the whole roof, gone," he said.
In Maraetai, resident Justin Cook said several cliff-side houses on Te Pene Rd had their windows blown in.
"One house has lost a garage door and there was some talk about someone's roof being ripped off."
Out west, a Taupaki farmer could only watch as strong winds tore iron sheet by sheet off his 18m x 8m haybarn.
The Fire Service's northern communications centre had to call in extra staff to deal with weather-related 111 calls. A spokesman said the centre received nearly 2000 emergency calls between noon and 10pm last night.
At 10pm it still had 400 jobs backlogged, most of which were in Auckland, where crews attended trees fallen on homes and cars, powerlines and trees blocking roads, and lifting roofs.
The storm damaged powerlines and transformers across the upper North Island, leaving thousands of people without power.
Vector spokeswoman Denise Bailey said 90,000 homes were last night without power between Auckland and Wellsford.
Ms Bailey expected a "significant number" would still be without power today as repair work was dangerous.
In Northland, up to 5000 homes were without power and Whangarei Hospital was using an emergency generator.
All roads leading to Whangarei were blocked this morning as a result of flooding and slips.
More than 70 elderly residents were evacuated last night from a rest home in Kaitaia because of flooding.
Twenty-nine were taken from the Switzer home in South Rd to Kaitaia Hospital and the remainder to an emergency centre at Kaitaia College.
Power outages also affected 25,000 consumers on the Coromandel Peninsula, the Hauraki Plains and Piako.
A state of emergency was declared in Northland at 4.30pm.
Kaeo, Mangamuka, the Karikari Peninsula, Horeke, Pawarenga and Mitimiti were cut off after flooding, slips and falling trees created havoc on the roads.
Kaeo was hit badly after recording more than 270mm of rain. About 213mm of that fell in 12 hours - a one-in-150-year event.
Fire Service volunteers and police spent the day plucking Kaeo residents to safety in inflatable rescue boats.
MetService said the worst of the storm in Northland was likely over. The wind and rain were expected to ease in Auckland from about 6am today and noon in the Coromandel.
Power
Outages: Warkworth, Snells Beach, Wellsford, East Coast Bays through to Orewa, Helensville, Coatesville and Kumeu, Maraetai, Waiheke Island Coromandel and Hauraki Plains.
In Northland: Cuts throughout the region including Whangarei Heads, Matapouri, Kawakawa, Russell, Haruru, Rawene, Kerikeri and Kaeo.
Water supply
The power outage shut down the main water pump in Maungakaramea, leaving residents without reticulated supplies. They were urged to use bottled water.
Telecommunications
Vodafone cellphone coverage was down on the eastern side of Northland from the Bay of Islands to Coopers Beach after the Hikurangi site was affected.
Three Telecom sites lost service, affecting nearly 100 customers in Peria, Kaeo and Kaitaia. Mains-power outages affected 18 Telecom sites, which were operating on back-up battery power or generators.
Roads
Hundreds of roads were closed or affected due to flooding, fallen trees and power lines in the Far North, Whangarei, Auckland and north of Thames.
- with NZPA
