- Northland’s Kāeo River Bridge on SH10 and Rangiahua Bridge on SH1 are both closed due to flooding.
- Four local roads are closed due to fallen trees and flooding, according to Far North District Council.
- Three people have been injured in a crash after a tree fell on SH1.
- Nearly 1500 homes and businesses in the Far North are without power due to the poor weather.
- MetService warns of surface flooding and slips after issuing a heavy rain warning for all of Northland.
Northland residents should watch out for flooding and slips, after more than 100mm of rainfall overnight, according to MetService.
Two bridges – one on SH1 at Rangiahua and the other at SH10 at Kāeo River – have been closed due to flooding.
The flooding has cut off New Zealand’s northernmost town from the rest of the country.
With State Highway 1 closed at Rangiahua Bridge and State Highway 10 closed at Kāeo, Kaitāia is isolated.
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Waka Kotahi has advised no detour is available for either route and people should delay their journey.
Andrea Panther from Kaitāia Business Association said this has caused huge disruption for businesses in the area.
Specialist doctors can’t get to Kaitāia, resulting in cancelled appointments, some staff can’t get to work and shipments can’t get through, she said.
“It’s caused lots of disruption … It’s not the first time but sometimes it’s just a few hours at high tide – now it looks like it could be a few days.”
Panther said while businesses will worry about the isolation, most people realise there is nothing they can do. She hoped the weather would not be like the storm in July 2020, which caused SH1 to be closed at Mangamuka for a year.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Andrea Panther, head of the Kaitaia Business Association, says the weather has caused huge disruption for Northland businesses.
Nearly 1500 homes and businesses in the Far North are without power due to the poor weather.
Lines company Top Energy is reporting power cuts at nine different places across the Far North, including in Kaitāia, Ōpua, Kāeo and Awarua.
The largest outage, affecting 500 homes in the Bay of Islands town of Ōpua, is expected to be restored by 3pm, while Kaitāia homes and businesses will have to wait until 6pm.
Supplied
The Kāeo River Bridge on SH10 has flooded, causing Waka Kotahi to urge caution and ask commuters to delay their journey.
Earlier on Thursday morning, three people were injured in a crash on SH1 near Hikurnagi after a tree fell on the road.
One person reportedly received moderate injuries and two people have reportedly received minor injuries, police said.
SH1 was blocked until 10am on Thursday, but traffic is now free flowing.
Waka Kotahi is asking commuters to drive carefully and expect detours.
A number of Far North schools are closed on Thursday due to the flooding, with one sending children home at 11am.
Opononi Area School – Te Kura Takiwa o Opononi, based in Hokianga, is closing at 11am due to areas already flooding, with buses due to leave the school at this time.
Parents are encouraged to collect their children from the office if possible.
Oromahoe School near Kerikeri, Taipa Area School, Whangaroa College and Matauri Bay School are all closed for the day – with school buses not running in Whangaroa.
Antonia Cathcart/Supplied
Northland’s Kāeo River Bridge on SH10 has flooded after almost 100mm of rain on Thursday.
Mangōnui local Antonia Cathcart, 23, said she’d never seen the water around Kāeo River Bridge rise this quickly.
“I’ve only a small car. I couldn’t see how deep the water was. It was really fast flowing I could feel the push against the car.
“They closed the road just after me, but it’s the fastest that I’ve seen the water rise,” she said.
Four local roads have been closed due to fallen trees and flooding, according to Northland District Council.
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A one lane bridge on SH10 heading towards Kaeo was mostly submerged underwater at 12pm on Thursday.
According to MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey, most northern districts saw more than 65mm of rainfall over a 24-hour period.
Other places in the Far North were also hit hard by rainfall, although Whangarei Airport only measured 16mm over the same period, said Glassey.
Kerikeri has been hit the worst, with more than 128mm in last 24 hours, followed by Whangaroa with 116mm.
Send in your photos of Northland’s wild weather to aucklandnewsroom@stuff.co.nz
Northland is not the only area in the North Island bracing for severe weather. Auckland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Taranaki, Tongariro National Park and the Tararua Range are all set to see heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday.
