A 9-year-old girl was pulled her from her bedroom by her parents seconds before lightning split a huge tree outside sending a branch smashing through her window.

Shaken by the near miss, the Te Puke family went outside to find their dog dead, believed to have been electrocuted by a lightning strike.

Much of the North Island was doused with rain yesterday causing flooding throughout Rotorua and the Coromandel. A state of emergency was declared in Ngongotaha after a stream burst its banks.

Matt and Nicole Petuha and their youngest daughter, Isobel, 9, were asleep in their rented home in rural Te Puke yesterday when they were woken by a huge boom of thunder between 4.30am and 5am.

"It shook the whole house and woke us up," Matt Petuha said.

They went to check on Isobel and brought her into their room.

A minute later they heard "Kaboom!" Petuha said.

Lightning had struck the huge redwood tree in their front yard, splitting all but the last few metres of the trunk down the middle, he said.

The two trunk halves fell on either side of the house, but a branch crashed through the roof of a small lean-to attached to the house and broke Isobel's window.

It sent a shower of glass and wood over the bed the little girl had occupied a minute earlier.

A detached shed was also badly damaged after taking a direct hit from the falling trunk, but the family's cars parked nearby were spared.

The family smelled burning and, worried the home's fried electrical system could spark a fire, called 111 about 5am but firefighters gave the all clear.

The dog's death was "devastating for the family", Rolleston said.

Petuha said his 2-and-a-half-year-old dog, Rocky, had been in a kennel beside the shed when the lightning hit.

"I think it was the electric shock from the lightning . . . "

Surveying the aftermath yesterday afternoon, he said he could not believe the tree - which he and neighbours described as a "landmark" - had not fallen on top of the house.

"I've been looking at all of this and trying to work out the physics of it. How did it not take out the house? It fell all around it."

Next-door-neighbour Rachel Jeffery said it was a "miracle it went the way it did".

The storm woke her family about 4.45am.

"The whole house shook every time it boomed. We had paintings fall off the wall."

Petuha said his family had been "inundated" with offers of help from friends and colleagues in the storm's wake, for which they were very grateful.

There was a two-bedroom bach on the property the family had been able to move into while their home was assessed by insurers and repaired.

"But a little bit later on, if anyone wants some firewood ..."

Consistent heavy rain across the Western Bay yesterday flooded roads and fields, swelling rivers and streams, marooning stock and a clubhouse in Tauriko, creating a gushing cascade in the hills near Pongakawa and bringing a bank down on Belk Rd.

Early morning lightning strikes set off false fire alarms in commercial buildings around Tauranga and in the afternoon one took out a set of traffic lights in Mount Maunganui.

Almost 50 per cent of teaching staff reported workplace harm last year. Staff aged under 25 were most at risk, with 70 per cent reporting harm of some form.

There are serious health and social ramifications to be considered from the findings, ChildForum chief executive Dr Sarah Alexander said.

"Health and safety risks to staff need to be better managed. Things such as excessive noise levels leading to hearing loss, staff not getting regular breaks and staff being overworked and unsupported should not be happening at any service.

"The cost, financially and emotionally to staff - the majority are women and many with young children of their own - of working in early childhood education, a profession that is also known for its low pay, can be significant.

"The sector is losing skilled teachers so something has to be done to look after staff better to keep these people in the sector," Dr Alexander said.

The ChildForum Early Childhood National Network researchers surveyed 900 teachers, including 109 in supervisor positions, as part of the 2017 Early Childhood Education Employment Survey.

In an earlier survey at the end of 2014, 29 per cent of teaching staff and supervisors reported a work-related injury, physical or mental health problem. Alexander believed one reason for the increase could be more publicity around the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

Cartilage damage and torn ligaments in their wrist due to a fall, extreme stress, sleeplessness, migraines, severe back problems costing thousands in treatments and using alcohol as a coping mechanism were some of the experiences quoted from surveyed staff.

Comments about mental health problems were made almost as often as comments about injuries and physical problems. One employee reported crying often at work and feeling both physically and mentally drained. Another said they felt less like a teacher and more like a cleaner/babysitter and one female teacher went into premature labour owing to stress.

Alexander suggested that it was time to put "the care" back into early childhood education. She wanted to see the sector invest in staff education around injury prevention.

"Caring for those who care for children has to become a priority.

"It can be really difficult for staff and add to the stress of trying to give a proper service to children when they are feeling undervalued, unsupported and unappreciated around health and safety at work."

The research recommended training from health and safety experts, reducing, removing or controlling hazards and giving staff equipment that will help prevent injury - for example steps for children so staff don't have to lift them on and off changing tables.

Edusafe occupational therapist Melissa Caskie called the high-level of harm detailed in the report "heartbreaking". She said it was proof there wasn't a lot of injury prevention in a sector that was crying out for it.

"There are a lot of physical issues and psychosocial issues. Psychosocial issues are usually a result of not having a cohesive environment to work in.

"There needs to be a lot more investment into staff and looking at injury-prevention, making them safer, more supported and more valued in the workplace."