Flooding traps cows on island refuge
Heavy rain sparked flooding and cut power to parts of the Far North yesterday, closing schools and catching some animals off-guard.
Northland lines company Top Energy said flooding impeded some of their power restoration efforts, with some pockets of homes without power in Fairburn, Kaitaia and Honeymoon Valley.
High tide also caught a number cows on the flooded plains at Koutu Loop, near Opononi.
They reached dry land later in the day.
Power was expected to be restored by mid-afternoon yesterday as the water receded.
Kaikohe East School principal Chicky Rudkin said the flooding at the Northland school was the worst she had seen in 48 years.
She said 120 students out of the primary school’s roll of 280 were away yesterday, due to being unable to make it to school.
Kaeo School was also closed, with buses unable to run. Peria School, east of Kaitaia, was also closed to due to flooding.
The flooding came as rain bands passed over the top of the North Island following heavy rain in parts of Northland on Wednesday night and yesterday morning.
A heavy rain severe weather watch was in place for the region through to the afternoon.
Top Energy said trees getting into lines had been the main cause of electricity faults, with a long line of wattles causing an outage affecting 385 customers in Towai, east of Kawakawa.
‘‘Mt Pokaka and parts of Kerikeri have also lost power when trees got into the 11kV lines.
‘‘Power has now been restored to these areas and we have crews out now clearing vegetation and patrolling the lines.’’
Flooding and slips had caused delays for motorists on State Highway 10 east of Taipa, near Doubtless Bay, the NZ Transport Agency warned.
Work site death
Outdoor goods retailer Torpedo 7 has confirmed a contractor from a transport company died at its distribution centre near Hamilton Airport about 6.30pm on Wednesday. ‘‘Our distribution centre is closed today while investigations are under way. We are not able to provide any further detail at this time. Our primary focus is to support the family and team members affected by this terrible accident,’’ a statement said.
Fire victim dies
A man critically injured in a fire in a Christchurch motel unit has died. Jason Edward Sillick, 44, was pulled from a room at the central city motel about 6.45am on June 14. Motel guests tried to douse the flames using a hose and fire extinguisher. Sillick died in Christchurch Hospital last Friday, two days after the blaze, Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Stewart said. The Australian national had worked in the Christchurch building industry for several years. Family came over from Australia to be with the father of two, Stewart said.
Retired cop killed
On Wednesday, Aporo Joyce planted out his vegetable garden. That night, the 79-year-old was hit and killed by a car in Tawa, Wellington. Brenda Joyce, his wife of 50 years, said the retired policeman was a ‘‘nononsense man’’, who grew the most incredible sunflowers. Police said the driver of the car that hit Joyce had been spoken to, and the serious crash unit was investigating. Joyce was well known in Porirua for his policing work and community spirit.
Two fatal crashes
The driver of a truck, a woman in her 60s, has died following a crash involving two trucks and three cars at a roadworks site in South Waikato yesterday at 2.15pm on State Highway 1 near Lichfield. And a person died after a two-car crash on the road between Edgecumbe and Te Teko in the Bay of Plenty about 12.45pm.