Graeme MacDonald, of the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group, says large parts of both the Whangarei and Far North Districts are currently without power.
Mr MacDonald says in the Whangarei District, power company Northpower says those currently without power include:
- the area south of Hikurangi to Hukerenui
- the coastal area from north of Pataua (and possibly Pataua) to Bland Bay
- the Maungatapere area up the Mangakahia Valley, Poroti and Titoki, to Twin Bridges
- Some areas in and around Whangarei City
Additionally, Whangarei Hospital has experienced some outage and has had to use an emergency generator.
In the Far North, which has borne the brunt of today’s storm to date, literally dozens of areas are without power and again, power company Top Energy is expecting lengthy delays as it battles to restore electricity.
Menawhile, Mr MacDonald says Regional Council Hydrologists monitoring today’s torrential rain say 253.5mm of rain – equivalent to an entire month’s worth – had fallen on the Kaeo area from midnight to 3pm today. About 213mm of that had fallen in just 12 hours, equivalent to a 1:150 year event.
In contrast, the devastating storms which hit Northland in late March had delivered 179.5mm to Kaeo over 12 hours, equivalent to a 1:65 year event.
Mr MacDonald said other areas to receive significant rainfall since midnight include Mangamuka (140.5mm to 2.30pm), Puhipuhi (136.5mm to 2.45pm) and Ohaeawai (125mm to 2.30pm).
Central Whangarei had received 89.5mm from midnight to 2.40pm.
Mr MacDonald says with strong winds, torrential rain and some Northland rivers running more than eight metres higher than normal, large swathes of the region are being affected by flooding, road closures, interruptions to telecommunications, cuts to the water supply and other weather-related problems.
The MetService is predicting heavy rain will continue over much of Northland until early tomorrow morning and officials are continuing to keep a close watch on the situation.
Mr MacDonald says weather-related information - including road closures and weather warnings – will continue to be posted as they come to hand on the Northland Regional Council’s website on the following link www.nrc.govt.nz/flooding