A man and his vehicle were washed away at a river crossing near Warkworth, north of Auckland, on Wednesday, and police were still looking for him as days of torrential rain pummelled New Zealand’s North Island.
Local media reports said a passenger got out and raised the alarm. Police gave no further detail on the missing man.
Warnings across the upper North Island
MetService, the national forecaster, put red heavy rain warnings over Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, citing a threat to life from dangerous rivers, flooding and landslides. Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and parts of the upper South Island got lower-level warnings. Watches for heavy rain also covered Waikato, Taupō, Nelson, Canterbury and the West Coast.
MetService blamed an “extremely moist air mass from the tropics” and expected the downpours to run into Thursday, hitting hardest where catchments were already overwhelmed.
Emergency management and recovery minister Mark Mitchell said Northland was the main worry. “They’re basically fully saturated in terms of the ground … and we’ve got more coming,” he told Radio New Zealand, adding that more rain could quickly make things worse.
Local states of emergency were declared in Whangārei, Thames-Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hauraki and Tairāwhiti. Councils asked people in low-lying and flood-prone areas to move to higher ground, and told others to be ready to leave at short notice. Civil Defence sent emergency alerts in parts of Northland: stay off the roads, skip non-essential travel, and get out at once if floodwater rises.
Rescues and closures
Footage from New Zealand media showed farmland under water, floodwater running across highways and homes ringed by it. At Ōakura, a coastal Northland settlement, evacuations were under way or being considered, and the pictures showed water entering properties.
On the Coromandel Peninsula, a woman was rescued by kayak from the deck of her flooded home. Neighbours helped save a 94-year-old man trapped by rising water, The Stuff reported. Parts of the peninsula received close to a month’s worth of rain in 12 hours, according to MetService data.
Whitianga, a tourist town, was cut off after State Highway 25 closed in both directions because of flooding and slips. Other highways across the peninsula and Northland were shut as conditions got worse, and the New Zealand Transport Agency said several roads were closed by slips and surface flooding.
In Whangārei, the mayor said wastewater systems were at capacity and asked residents to use less water to avoid spills.
Emergency services urged people not to drive or walk through floodwater, citing fast current, unstable ground and debris. Civil Defence also advised keeping emergency supplies ready and checking on neighbours where that was safe.
Officials said damage assessments would start once conditions eased. They warned that further evacuations were possible if the rain kept up at the forecast intensity.
Authorities have not linked this flooding to climate change. Scientists have repeatedly said that warming is making heavy rainfall more intense in New Zealand, raising the risk of flash floods and landslides.
