Coromandel cut off by floods

Only one road remained closed on the Coromandel Peninsula late this afternoon after heavy overnight rainfalls.

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Police said State Highway 25 was blocked by slips and flooding between the road's junction with SH25A at Hikuai north to Tairua on the east coast.

Tairua was accessible from the north but not from the south.

The MetService reported unusually high rainfall figures for Whitianga to the north of Tairua with 143mm in the township in the 24 hours to 9am today, with 29mm falling between 2am and 3am.

One station in the Coromandel Ranges recorded 170mm.

Heavy rainfalls were recorded over the Auckland region and to the north with Warkworth deluged by 100mm yesterday.

More than 41mm drenched the Whangaparaoa Peninsular in three hours last night.

One the west coast, a rainfall station on the southern side of Kaipara Harbour heads noted a ran bomb which dumped 35mm in an hour mid-afternoon.

Hahei and the Hot Water Beach area were cut off by flooding on Hot Water Beach Rd 200m from State Highway 25 earlier today.

Roading crews were trying to reopen the road but there was not time frame for reopening.

Some areas of State Highway 25a, by Hikuai and Duck Creek, were presently unpassable due to flooding, police said.

Tairua was accessible from the north but not from the south.

Onemana state 25 by Opoutere is blocked due to flooding.

Fire Service northern communications centre shift manager Jaron Phillips said the flooding also required one family in Waikawau, northwest of Thames, to abandon their house in waist-deep water. They drove to higher ground to wait for the water to recede.

Several residents of the town of Kuaotunu were also trapped by rising floodwaters. Mr Phillips said firefighters went door to door to ensure residents were OK.

Meanwhile, Mr Phillips said the Fire Service responded to several weather-related incidents in the Auckland region between 9pm and 4am.

Four homes were flooded in Stanmore Bay on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of metropolitan Auckland, forcing the occupants to evacuate. The basement of another home was flooded and pumped out by firefighters. A garage was also flooded in Torbay on the North Shore.

In Auckland City, a woman became trapped in her car by rising floodwaters underneath a motorway overpass in Ellerslie.

Mr Phillips said the woman was rescued by firefighters and her vehicle towed to safety.

Another driver was trapped by flood water in Remuera, while homes were flooded in Remuera, Orakei, Ellerslie and Mt Wellington. Commercial premises were flooded in St Johns and Penrose. Three properties in Mission Bay were impacted by an overflowing stream.

Residents in one Meadowbank house also had the unfortunate experience of having their home flooded by raw sewage "erupting" back through their toilet cistern, Mr Phillips said.

Five St Heliers homes were flooded by rain or raw sewage, while residents in another St Heliers home watched water rising through their floorboards.

Further east, the entire street of Vida Place in Howick was flooded, while homes and garages were flooded in nearby O' Halloran Rd and Juliet Ave.

- NZPA