Officials have tonight updated the timings of red heavy rain warnings for parts of Auckland, Coromandel and Northland from tomorrow, and all Auckland schools and early learning centres have been instructed to close until next Tuesday.
A red warning means rain is expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities.
The red warning is now in place for Auckland north of Orewa from 4pm tomorrow to 7am Wednesday; for Northland from 3am tomorrow to 6am Wednesday and for the Coromandel from 7pm tomorrow to 4pm Wednesday. An orange warning is in place for the rest of Auckland from 6pm tomorrow to 9am Wednesday and for Bay of Plenty from 3am Wednesday to 3am Thursday.
At a briefing this afternoon, Brown said the coming days could be worse than what Aucklanders had already endured. “The ground is so saturated, that if anything [coming rain] could be worse than Friday.”
Brown said he had asked authorities to consider advising schools and businesses to stay closed tomorrow.
“Stay home, stay safe, and stay away from areas which might slip. And stay away from floodwaters. Follow instructions of emergency authorities,” he said.
Councillor Richard Hills said the council had already begun picking up storm-related rubbish.
“Reach out for help, reach out to friends and whanau if it gets tough tonight. We’re seeing significant breaks in pipes, don’t assume [council] knows about all of these. Please log them and we will get to them. If we don’t know about [these problems] we can’t get there.”
Motorists in many regions were being urged to drive with care today, while people in Auckland were being warned to keep away from contaminated beaches.
In the Far North, there are already reports of flooding on one of Kaitāia’s main streets.
A Far North District Council spokesperson said she understood Commerce Street has been inundated.
Far North Kahika (Mayor) Moko Tepania said the council was working with Civil Defence Northland to keep residents updated and ensure the region was prepared should anyone need assistance.
“Civil Defence Northland is active right now and is on standby monitoring the situation should they need to kick into action,” Tepania said.
In the Coromandel, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency was urging people not to travel unless necessary.
A significant portion of the peninsula was already affected by flooding and slips, in what the agency described as a “hazardous and evolving situation”.
While contractors had been able to clear a slip on SH25 at Ruamahanga Bay this morning, the highway remained closed between Coromandel and Whitianga due to multiple slips on Whangapoua Hill.
The road was open south of Whitianga, but motorists were asked to proceed with caution.
State Highway 25A, meanwhile, was closed “for the foreseeable future” due to a major collapse, while other local arterial roads through the peninsula were also closed.
Today, meanwhile, drivers across the lower North Island – where weather warnings remain in place for Wairarapa, Nelson and Tasman – were being urged to travel carefully.
A severe thunderstorm watch was also in place for Manawatu, Tararua, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Nelson, Buller, Canterbury Plains, and the Canterbury High Country between 1pm and 9pm today.
These thunderstorms may be severe, with sudden intense rain bursts and hail.
Heavy rain watches are also in force for northwest Tasman, the Richmond and Bryant ranges, the Rai Valley area and the Marlborough Sounds.
“This means there is an increased risk of localised flooding, slips, rock and treefalls across the state highway networks in these regions,” a Waka Kotahi advisory said.
“Road users should drive to the conditions, use their headlights if visibility is poor, watch their speed and following distances, and be prepared for hazards.
“With the bad weather forecast to continue, drivers should check road conditions and weather alerts before they travel.”
“We have passengers that have been in the terminal for a wee while waiting for their outbound flight,” Auckland Emergency Management deputy controller Rachel Kelleher said.
'Stay home if possible'
Mayor Brown addressed media this afternoon.
"It has taken some time for everyone to appreciate just how wide and deep an event this is, and it isn't finished yet," Brown said.
He was recommending businesses and schools remain closed tomorrow and that the army should be brought in to help sandbag and other duties.
"Stay home if possible," he said.
Brown has defended himself against criticism that he did not call for a State of Emergency earlier, saying he followed the advice of the professionals when deciding whether to declare an emergency.
However, today he acknowledged communication with the public on the disaster on Friday fell short.
"I want to say to Aucklanders that yes there have been hiccups of course.
"I accept that communications including mine and my office were not good enough, especially on Friday night."
Brown said he "is certainly not going to resign" despite criticism of his early response.
"I was elected to fix Auckland and this is a giant fix-up.
"I believe that my role is in first of all making sure that we are getting the best, most efficient use of the resources that we have available, and that's what I've been concentrating on."
Even before the state of emergency, staff were making decisions right from the start on Friday afternoon, he said.
There would be an independent investigation into the response on Friday, including his own, he said.
"We want recommendations for improvement, and we will act on them.
"I don't think I personally did anything wrong.
"Everyone's going to be reviewed here. Myself, the performance of the organisation, and it needs to be kept in mind, this is unprecedented in scale and it took some time for people to understand."
Brown said he agreed that climate change was the reason for the extraordinary weather event.
"As the prime minister has said, this is climate change. And I agree with him."
Speaking to Kim Hill on RNZ's Saturday Morning, Brown was asked if this was an example of climate change affecting the city.
He said it was "a bit early to jump to that".
"Let's fix things that we've got now, I'm worried about the people here and safety first, then I'm worried about the restoring of the infrastructure and then we'll be worrying about the impact on people who've lost property and we'll work our way through that. But it's a bit early for that and it's not helpful either to be honest."
- additional reporting RNZ
