[Glenda]

It's happening again - torrential rain and flooding, but with gale force winds this time.

Had a restless night with the rain and howling wind. Went shopping at 8.30am this morning and the roads were already starting to flood. The garden is getting a bashing and I am going to have to check up on 'drainage management' as large ditches have appeared from nowhere and are washing soil and plants onto the road. The road at the bottom of the driveway is flooded and people further downhill are trying to stop the flow going into their garden and house. It is quite scary and we are surprised we still have electricity.

Wild weather hitting top of North Island
By MICHAEL FIELD - Fairfax Media | Tuesday, 10 July 2007

As a Tasman Sea storm swept across Northland, weather forecasters said it could be extremely hazardous to be on the roads or out in boats. They said the storm had the potential to be dangerous and very damaging.

At least one road in Northland was under about 60cm of water but was still negotiable with care.

Whangarei District Council said Whareora Road on the way to the Whangarei heads was badly flooded and contractors were trying to clear the water.

Rain radar images this morning show Northland is already getting pounded and MetService says a low over the north Tasman Sea is continuing to deepen. It will bring heavy and even torrential rain to the top of the country.

In their current warning they say up to 250mm of rain could fall in parts of Northland over the next 24 hours, especially about the central and eastern hills.

Northern Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula are likely to receive between 100 and 150mm of rain from late this morning through to Wednesday afternoon.

As well as the rain, many of these areas should expect damaging easterly winds. Gusts of 120 km/h are likely in exposed areas from the Bay of Islands to the Auckland Harbour Bridge from this morning until Wednesday morning.

(From here: New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz)



House knocked off foundations in storm
12:18PM Tuesday July 10, 2007

A house was knocked off its foundations by a landslide in Northland as weather in the region worsened today. There are no reports of injuries in the incident in the Far North community of Totara North which pushed the house into a parked car.

The situation is also being closely monitored at the Kerikeri Mission Station - home to New Zealand's oldest building Kemp House. Stuart Park, Northland area manager of the NZ Historic Places Trust, said at this stage he was not planning to evacuate as they had to do in March but he was keeping in close contact with NIWA as water levels rise in the Kerikeri river. Staff and volunteers are on standby with a truck, packaging materials and sandbags.

The National Crisis Management Centre in Wellington has been activated because of the worsening weather situation in the upper North Island.

The Ministry of Civil Defence said the centre was monitoring the situation in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

MetService is predicting up to 250 millimetres of rain for the region before tomorrow morning - more than in the whole of an average July.

Civil Defence said farmers in low-lying areas should already have moved stock to higher ground and the boat owners should have checked their vessels are moored safely and securely.

New Zealand Post has cancelled some deliveries because of the worsening weather conditions which have already caused flooding on State Highways and other roads.

NZ Post spokesman Don Day said there would be restricted or no mail deliveries in most areas between Waipu and Kaitaia.

Severe weather forecaster Andy Downs said winds gusting up to 120 km/h could bring down trees, and motorists were urged to reconsider driving in the upper North Island and the Coromandel Peninsula. He says people thinking about travelling around areas from Orewa North up towards the Bay of Islands later this evening should not do so.

- ANGELA GREGORY, NEWSTALK ZB

From here: House knocked off foundations as storm lashes North (+photos) - 10 Jul 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news