Several homes have been evacuated in New Zealand’s northernmost town, Kaitāia, on Thursday night, while several cars have been lost to floodwaters.

Kaitāia was cut off from the rest of the country until mid-morning after flooding and slips closed both SH1 and SH10.

While it is still raining in the Far North, MetService said the worst of the rain has passed for Northland, after it was hit with more than a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours on Thursday.

The downpour shut down state highways, sparked severe flooding and knocked out power for more than 600 homes.

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Flooding has closed SH10 at Kāeo River Bridge, with no detours available.

However, SH1 at Rangihua is now open following flooding over the last 24 hours, and SH11 is no longer flooded at Taumarere but traffic management is in place for two slips in the Lemons Hill area.

SH1 is also closed at Mangamuka Gorge due to large slips, but there is yet no word if the slips are as bad as in the storm in July 2020, which caused SH1 to be closed at Mangamuka for a year.

Civil Defence Northland spokesperson Zach Woods said a handful of families in low-lying Allen Bell Drive and nearby Parkdale Cres evacuated at around 6pm on Thursday.

“We are asking residents to delay any trips they have until the water levels have subsided,” he said.

Awanui River rose to high levels last night, but had not breached its banks. Water levels were subsiding, Woods said.

Kaitāia local Tia Hohaia said the floods came so quickly people didn’t have a chance to plan.

“We’ve had a lot of locals who can’t get back in. They’re stuck. Most of the people I work with are from rural areas, and those areas are cut off.

“We’ve had to close the office because people can’t get in,” Hohaia said.

Far North District Council had evacuation centres on standby, at Roma Marae and Kaitāia College, in case the Awanui River breached its banks, but spokesman Ken Lewis said they were not needed.

However, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is advising anyone driving in the Far North on Friday to do so slowly and carefully.

In Whangaroa, several cars got caught in floodwaters and four local roads in the Far North remain closed to flooding and slips.

Resident Marie Kerr said she watched several people get rescued from their stranded cars, including one person who jumped out the window, then returned to the car a bit later to turn off the headlights.

About 350 homes and businesses in the Far North are without power on Friday, lines company Top Energy reports.

There are power cuts in eight different places including Te Kao, Rawene, Towai and Awarua, with the company expecting to restore power in most places by this afternoon.

MetService has a heavy rain warning in place for Northland until 11am and in Auckland until 7am.

“There’s still heavy rain in Northland, but it has eased from what it was yesterday,” MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said.

Kerikeri was the worst hit with 172mm of rain in 24 hours. Kaitāia saw 101.4mm of rain and Whangārei airport had 32.4mm.

“Thursday was the wettest day the Far North has seen all year,” Glassey said.

Meanwhile, Auckland has hit record August temperatures for the third night in a row.

On Thursday night, the lowest temperature was 16.1C – the warmest minimum temperature for an August night that Auckland has ever seen.

Glassey said the heavy rainfall and warm nights are linked.

“The air coming down from the tropics is warm and carrying a lot of moisture. That’s bringing both the warm temperatures and the potential for rain,” he said.