The Northland Regional Council says the Whangarei District appears to have suffered the brunt of the heavy rain to date, although forecasters are warning of the possibility of more heavy falls across the Northland region overnight.
Graeme MacDonald, the Northland Regional Council’s Emergency Management Team Leader, says despite numerous reports of flooding, road closures and slips across the region, as of 5.30pm today authorities were not aware of any threat to life or significant property damage.
He says the heaviest falls have been over eastern areas from Kaeo to Whangarei, with some areas now recording close to a month’s worth of rain since late on Sunday night.
“By 3pm today, some parts of the region had recorded more than 200mm of rain, close to what would normally fall for the entire month of July.”
Mr MacDonald says the MetService is expecting the heavy rain that has fallen throughout much of today to ease from early evening, but warns significant falls are still possible overnight.
Authorities are suggesting people remain at home if possible, with those who do need to venture out urged to take special care on rain-swept, slippery roads, many of which are also affected by slips and surface flooding.
Similarly, people are urged to take special care around streams and rivers, most of which are running several metres higher than normal due to the rain.
Mr MacDonald says a raft of information on the weather situation, including road and school closures, rainfall figures, media releases and links to other local authority and weather sites are available from the Northland Regional Council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz
He says it is too early to estimate the cost of weather-related roading damage at this stage.
Meanwhile, Mr MacDonald says authorities will monitor the weather overnight and expect to issue a public update to the media early tomorrow morning.