Lucky escape for North from rain, flooding

Northland appears to have had a lucky escape as heavy rain - and resulting flooding – failed to materialise as predicted overnight.

Civil Defence and other officials were on alert overnight after MetService forecasters yesterday predicted up to 100mm of rain could fall on the region in the 15 hours to 6am today.

However, by early today less rain had fallen than feared and to the relief of Graeme MacDonald, the Northland Regional Council’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Senior Programme Manager, high tide passed without incident on the region’s east coast about 5am.

Mr MacDonald says had the rain arrived as earlier predicted by the MetService, rain sodden Northland – already battered by an earlier weekend storm - would have faced almost certain widespread flooding.

But figures from Regional Council hydrologists showed the rain that had eventuated had come over a much longer period than originally expected.

In the 28 hours to 4am today, the Whangarei District appeared to have received the highest falls, with the regional high of 104.5mm of rain recorded at the Puhipuhi Hills.

Ngunguru’s northern hills, again near Whangarei, recorded the next highest rainfall over the same period – 95.5mm, with 86mm recorded at Marsden Pt. Further south Mangawhai’s Tara area received 75mm, while 70.5mm was recorded at both Whangarei City and Opua.

Further north, Kaeo received 68mm in the 28 hours to 4am today and Kaitaia 32mm.

Mr MacDonald says a number of communities throughout the region had had an anxious eye on the heavens over the past day or so and the region had effectively had a lucky escape.

“In the end, we had no new reports of flooding overnight, although there has been some damage to roading infrastructure throughout the region and to power networks, largely in the Far North.”

He says the latest forecast is for smaller amounts of rain to continue until the weekend. River levels throughout Northland are still high and hydrologists will be monitoring larger rivers throughout the region today.

Civil Defence and other officials will meet this morning but are expected to stand down later today.