Full report and stories from the floods

Residents face big clean-up after flash floods inundate homes

Auckland residents have begun the task of cleaning up drenched homes and filing insurance claims after a massive storm saturated the region again yesterday.

More than 320 properties were flooded, 225 of those in West Auckland. Some were inundated by waist-deep water.

Heavy rainfall between 10am and 1pm caused flash flooding around the Auckland region with New Lynn the worst affected.

The downpour cut power to nearly 3000 homes. Civil Defence issued a warning to stay out of floodwaters which could be contaminated by sewage.

MetService meteorologist April Clark said around 80mm fell in Auckland over a 24-hour period but the effects were exacerbated because up to 50mm fell in a single hour across West Auckland.

“How the rain pools in different areas can affect things a lot. In that area they got large amounts for at least one hour.

“It was an exceptional event in how long it lasted. The whole week has been fairly rainy for a lot of the North Island and that doesn’t happen that often.”

Areas affected by flooding included Kaukapakapa, Devonport, Parnell, Remuera, Eden Terrace, Blockhouse Bay, Morningside, Massey, Westgate, Whenuapai, New Lynn, Avondale, Titirangi, Henderson, Te Atatu, West Harbour, Glendene and Glen Eden.

The Fire Service responded to 582 emergency calls. At the peak they picked up one call every 24 seconds.

Emergency crews were stretched pumping water from waterlogged homes and attending slips.

A massive gum tree also crashed down over a footpath at Auckland Domain.

Low-lying parts of New Lynn were among the worsthit areas, after flooding submerged cars, poured into properties and a footpath was pushed into six businesses.

Water tore through the ground floor of a block of flats and a commercial building causing at least 12 people to be evacuated.

Labour New Lynn MP David Cunliffe spent his afternoon bailing out water from the flats which he said were “completely munted”.

A culvert could not cope with the volume of water which had risen 2m up the wall of the building, he said.

“Lucky no one was hurt. A bunch of cars were written off. Everyone has had to come out of the ground floor of that block, there are about a dozen different units totalled and they are in emergency accommodation tonight.”

Cunliffe said a good proportion of the 300 houses which had flooded were in New Lynn and Kelston.

“It’s a human tragedy. You can imagine the flats that are the lowest-lying and most vulnerable are the cheapest and [often] have some of the most vulnerable people in them, so there is a lot of tragedy for people who might be new migrants, uninsured. So there is a lot of suffering going on in our community tonight.”

MetService’s Clark said the foul weather that has drenched parts of the North Island for most of the week should start to dry up. Aucklanders can expect showers in the morning that will ease for a sunny week with temperatures reaching the mid-20s.

Despite the bad weather there was only one major road closure, on SH27 between SH26 and No 4 Rd at Tatuanui. It has since been reopened.