Armed police remain on alert after a gang confrontation in Wairoa last night ended with a man being shot in the face.

Samantha Hall, 12, is so upset by the sight of the wound to her pony's face that she can't bear to tend to the injured animal.

A 13-year-old girl is in hospital with serious leg injuries after she was run over during a street fight involving machetes and golf clubs in Hastings.

An 85-year-old man rescued from his burning Napier home late last night died from his injuries today.

Today Napier Boys' High School sang the national anthem loudly and proudly for one of their old boys, All Whites goalie Mark Paston.

Someone has made a big mistake by not scheduling the All Blacks to play in Napier at next year's World Cup.

Sauce is more than tomato ketchup these day, and the Hawkes Bay region is home to a burgeoning hotbed of condiment producers.

"I was going to have to live with myself if he burnt to death," officer Michael O'Leary told an inquest.

Heavy rain has caused widespread flooding in Auckland, Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty with one family trapped in their car having to be rescued by firefighters.

A quake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale was felt across Napier last night.

The extent of the damage across flood-stricken Otago is starting to become apparent as swollen rivers recede.

The rain has stopped falling in flood stricken Otago and Hawkes Bay, but the regions face a big, expensive cleanup.