Surrey Hill Rd, in Oakura, is reduced to one lane after a slip on Sunday.
© JANE MATTHEWS/STUFFSurrey Hill Rd, in Oakura, is reduced to one lane after a slip on Sunday.
Power outages have hit parts of North and West Auckland as heavy rain continues to affect parts of the North Island on Monday.

A Vector spokeswoman said the wild weather caused a number of outages across Auckland with the biggest impact to Karekare, Huia, Torbay Heights and Parau.

She said crews were working to restore power for those areas, and the majority of customers had their power back as of 9.14am on Monday.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) had received 28 weather related call-outs overnight across Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Northland.


A FENZ spokesman said they were mostly reports of flooding and arcing powerlines, including a tree falling on top of a car in Waimauku and a landslip on Tāmaki Drive in Ōrākei, which had been cleared as of 9.20am.

He said there had been no reported injuries so far.

Meanwhile, trees and power-lines were down in the Waipā district of Waikato, blocking both lanes on Kakaramea Rd of State Highway 39, a police update said on Monday morning.

Diversions were in place at the Koromatua Rd intersection and the Tuhikaramea Rd intersection.

Police were asking vehicles to avoid this area until the blockages were cleared, and to take an alternative route.

Orange MetService warnings for heavy rain remained in place for Hawke's Bay north of Napier, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty about and east of Whakatane, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato.

Elsewhere, heavy rain watches were in force for Hawke's Bay about and south of Napier, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane and Westland.

A heavy rain watch was lifted for Auckland, including Great Barrier Island, about 9am on Monday.

While the red warning for Taranaki had been lifted as of Monday morning, the worst rain Taranaki has had in years had roads turned into rivers, fences washed away, and bridges destroyed over Waitangi weekend.

The severe rain and flooding led to the closure of State Highway 45, the main highway connecting coastal Taranaki to the rest of region.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency closed the road between Okato and Opunake around 8am Sunday, cutting off many coastal communities. There was no estimated time for it to reopen.

The rain came in on Saturday after days of bone dry sunshine, and MetService issued a heavy rain warning which remained until 2pm Sunday, with more wet weather expected into Monday, although less severe.

The downpour has been caused by the same front responsible for flooding and the evacuation of hundreds of homes on the South Island's West Coast.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said they had attended more than 35 flood-related call-outs in Taranaki over the weekend.

MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said the region had seen "exceptional rainfall numbers".

"Rain started falling on Mt Taranaki before the rest of the region on Friday night and hasn't stopped since."

Between 8am Saturday and 10am Sunday, Mt Taranaki recorded 442mm of rain at North Egmont and 331.5mm at Dawson Falls.

Around the mountain during the same time period Hāwera recorded 165mm, Stratford 170mm, and Brooklands Zoo in New Plymouth 166mm.

At Cape Egmont 428mm of rainfall fell.

On Sunday morning alone at Cape Egmont between 6am and 10am, there was 138mm of rainfall - the same amount that New Plymouth would experience in a typical July, MetService said.

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