Tree wipes out house while residents sleep
An ‘‘absolutely huge’’ tree crashed on to an Auckland house during heavy rain, causing extensive damage and leaving the sleeping occupants shaken but unharmed.
The incident came as heavy rain and strong winds lashed Auckland yesterday morning as a winter storm moved south over New Zealand.
By lunchtime yesterday Metservice said the rain band was moving towards the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty with flooding starting to hit in those areas.
Occupants of the house, who did not want to be named, told Stuff three people were asleep downstairs when the tree came down about 7.30am during torrential rain.
The home owner, who had lived in the house for 18 years, said ‘‘the roof is all smashed in and all the windows and doors are crushed’’.
The tree had recently been assessed as ‘‘quite safe’’.
The owner’s grandson said the noise ‘‘woke me up in an instant’’. ‘‘It’s an absolutely huge tree.’’ The tree, which had a swing in it, was surrounded by other trees from neighbouring properties but appeared to be the only tree affected by the storm.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the large tree had fallen on the house in Arkles Bay in the north Auckland suburb of Whangaparaoa.
A spokesman said everyone had been evacuated from the ‘‘fairly damaged’’ house and staff were waiting for an inspector from Auckland Council to arrive.
Spokesman Daniel Nicholson said Fenz had answered about 30 calls about flooding incidents between 7am and 10am.
There were closures on the city’s motorway network due to flooding, while busy Tamaki Drive on the waterfront was also closed. Most roads in Auckland had reopened about lunchtime.
NZTA is keeping an eye on roads between Opotiki and Gisborne in the Bay of Plenty, and was considering closing Waioeka Gorge as a safety precaution.
COROMANDEL
Heavy rain on the Coromandel forced the closure of roads out of the peninsula. Floodwaters at Manaia, on the west coast of the peninsula, and at Whitianga, on the eastern side, cut off State Highway 25.
Miranda, on the Firth of Thames, saw flooding begin about 1.30pm on Sunday.
Don Hellaby, the Miranda Holiday Park manager, said the village was seeing lots of rain and some flooding on the campground, too.
‘‘We’ve got a fair bit of rain ... some of our camping ground is under water.’’
He’s also concerned about the king tide due about 8.30pm.
Gusts of 113kmh were recorded in the Hauraki Gulf, with a ‘‘significant’’ 3.5-metre wave recorded off the eastern coast of Northland.