Car stuck after heavy rain in Hamilton
Heavy rain in Hamilton caused flooding in some parts of the city, with a person having to get their car towed after getting stuck in flood water.
Emergency services were called to flooding on Delamare Rd in Pukete about 11.30am yesterday, a police spokeswoman said.
The car had to be towed and Fire and Emergency New Zealand also attended to assist the person.
In Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia citizens took to the streets themselves to unblock drains that left a portion of Ellery St flooded.
Two residents from a street over in Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia saw the flooding on Facebook, so donned their raincoats and headed over with shovels and a stick to help unblock the drains.
Resident Phoebe Odlum has lived on the street for more than 40 years and said it has flooded quite badly in the past, too.
It had not been this bad for about two years she said, after council cleaned the drains out.
Excess water usually drained away quickly, but yesterday it was taking a while to drain.
Stormy weather was predicted to bring periods of rain to many areas in the North Island yesterday, with heavy falls and further thunderstorms possible for coastal parts of Waikato.
Parts of the region had seen heavy falls yesterday, with Hamilton Airport recording 36mm of rain between 5am7am, MetService meteorologist Tahlia Crabtree said.
A number of heavy rain watches were in force throughout yesterday, with a watch also in place for Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taupo¯ and Taihape.