More severe weather expected in Auckland area
AUCKLAND: Civil Defence is warning Aucklanders to brace for more severe weather today, and the sour spell shows no signs of abating heading into the weekend.
It follows torrential rainfall on Wednesday that left swathes of southern Auckland and the Coromandel under water, closing roads and forcing people to evacuate their homes.
MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said further bursts of heavy rain were expected in the Auckland region between now and Sunday.
‘‘While we’ve had a good, dry reprieve today, the weather on Friday night and Saturday morning is forecast to be comparable to, or worse, than Tuesday.’’
The main concern was the impact on already saturated eastern areas of Auckland including Waiheke Island, Clevedon Valley and the Hunua Ranges.
Further north, Northland was to be on the receiving end of thunderstorms and torrential rain overnight, as a severe thunderstorm watch was issued by MetService for the region.
To the south, warnings were in place for both the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.
Auckland Civil Defence emergency operations manager Aaron Davis said the agency was monitoring the situation.
Many roads that were closed on Wednesday reopened yesterday.
A small number of properties in southeast Auckland had suffered some damage and flooding following Wednesday’s storm.
Tapapakanga Regional Park, Hunua Ranges Regional Park and Waitawa Regional Park have been closed because of heavy flooding.
Aucklanders are also being asked to reduce their water usage over the next three weeks after floods affected capacity at Ardmore water treatment plant.
Some Coromandel roads remained closed yesterday and crews were ‘‘out in force’’ clearing debris and preparing for more heavy rain.
Road crews dealt with about 30 incidents on state highways in the area on Wednesday, ranging from major slips that brought down power lines to minor flooding.
Coromandel resident Rex Eden woke at 3.30am on Wednesday to the sound of a tree falling, followed by a sound of thunder.
He shone his torch out the window of his upstairs flat in Onemana Dr, about 10km north of Whangamata in the seaside settlement.
‘‘The torch was a bit weak and I couldn’t really see anything so I went back to bed,’’ Mr Eden said.
‘‘When I got up later on and looked out the window, I was absolutely staggered.
‘‘There used to be a row of trees along the side of the house and a caravan parked next to them — but when I looked out there was nothing. It had all gone.’’