A new round of damaged property assessments will get underway today and public transport is returning to normal after an hours-long deluge swamped city roads and saw fresh flooding across the region.

At an Auckland Emergency Management briefing this morning deputy controller Rachel Kelleher said most roads affected by flooding were now reopened and the train network, that ground to a halt yesterday, was back to normal.

The city remains under a local state of emergency, some roads are still closed because of flooding and there is a risk that waterways will continue to rise with periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms still possible.

This morning Kelleher said the region was recovering quickly from the latest storm.

”Despite the rainfall emergency services have coped well,” she said.

“Overnight the council received 39 requests for assistance. Two of these were for habitable floor flooding”, Kelleher said.

Fire and Emergency NZ had also responded to a handful of call-outs for flood-related matters.

Kelleher said Civil Defence Centres set up yesterday afternoon across the region were used by a handful of people.

”Ten people were in the Wellsford centre overnight and one person was provided temporary accommodation in the central city area.”

“We are starting to carry out rapid assessments throughout the Auckland area,” Kelleher said.

“We have 30 Rapid Building assessment teams starting rapid building assessments throughout Auckland now”.

While the deluge overwhelmed Auckland’s wastewater system tap water remained safe to drink”, she said.

The state of local emergency didn’t mean all schools need to remain closed.

There are no severe weather watches in place for Auckland today, she said.

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson thanked Aucklanders for their patience while navigating a tricky situation travelling back home yesterday.

There will be a further council briefing at 9.30am which Mayor Wayne Brown is expected to attend after jetting in from Australia last night.

Auckland, Northland and Bay of Plenty were all under heavy and severe weather warnings yesterday as downpours battered the regions, causing surface flooding and commuter chaos.

MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Malborough and Nelson this morning.

The thunderstorms are expected to be near Marlborough Sounds and Tory Channel around 8am.

“These thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by torrential rain.”

Flooding has closed the southbound lane of Papakura-Clevedon Rd near the intersection with West Rd.

“Police continue to remind the public to take care on the roading network this morning following yesterday’s weather,” said a police spokesperson.

State Highway 1 at Dome Valley and Brynderwyn Hills has reopened after yesterday’s storm.

Niwa reported that a combination of strong wind and cold air will bring temperatures near or even below 0C for most of the South Island.

“It will certainly feel much colder than what we’ve experienced over the past week.”

The forecaster said wind gusts up to 70km/h may bring trees down after the recent rain.

Road snowfall warnings are in place for Lewis Pass, Arthurs Pass, Lindis Pass and the Crown Range Rd between 5pm and 11pm.

A road snowfall warning is in force for Milford Rd until 11am.

MetService has also issued a heavy snowfall watch for the northern hills of Southland north to the Waitaki River, excluding the lower-lying parts of North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha. This will be in place from 4pm today through to 2am tomorrow.

Christchurch’s temperatures are expected to drop to 3C overnight and reach up to 15C over the weekend.

Twizel will dip to the negatives, with temperatures between 0C and -2C.

Auckland’s overnight low will drop to 6C by Friday, with the day’s high expected to be 16C. But the sun is expected to come out and it will be a fine day across the city.

Today’s high for Auckland is 19C with a low of 10C.

It’ll be chillier in Hamilton, with a low of 0C forecast for Friday. The city’s highs will range between 13C and 16C from tomorrow through to next Tuesday.

Wellington’s low temperatures over the next few days into the weekend range from 7C to 9C, and the highs between 11C and 15C.

Yesterday, Auckland saw up to 109mm worth of rain, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in Te Pai Park in Henderson where 103mm worth of rain fell.

The deluge sparked the Auckland mayor declaring a third state of emergency in four months.

MetService Meteorologist Kathryn Hodge said the worst period of rainfall was between 10 am and 1 pm with Okura seeing 68.5mm worth of rain in two hours.

“It was a lot of rain spread out over the whole region.”

Meanwhile, in Northland, the highest rainfall was in Kaikohe which received 123mm worth of rain.

“It is important to remember that even as the weather improves, not all streams and rivers have reached their peak. It can take time for the rain that has fallen in the hills to make its way downstream,” said Auckland Emergency Management Duty Controller Parul Sood.

“Therefore, some waterways may still be rising even though the rain has eased. Any more heavy rain could cause surface and/or flash flooding around streams, gullies, and urban areas.”

Flooding at Puhoi 09 May 2023 picture supplied credit: Tony Versey

Auckland Transport group manager of metro services Darek Koper said that travel today should begin returning to normal after yesterday’s weather caused gridlocks.

“With the forecast looking much better, we expect that the road and public transport network will be operating close to normal levels.”

“There will still be work to do, with some road closures in place in places that got hit hardest by the rainfall event yesterday, and we will be working to mitigate those as soon as possible.

“However, the network overall will be operating and able to take people to work, school and to go about their daily business.”

For the latest information about public transport services check the AT Mobile App or Live Departures on the AT website.

Civil Defence Centres and Community Shelters

A number of CDCs have been opened across Auckland. The most up-to-date list is available on the Auckland Emergency Management website.

“It’s heartening to see that few people have needed to use these centres, which means they’ve been able to shelter at home or with whānau and friends,” said Auckland Emergency Management Duty Controller Parul Sood.

“We will continue to monitor the need for CDCs and shelters, as well as community-led sites, but most are likely to close over the next day or so.”

State of Emergency declared in Auckland

At approximately 12pm, with the approval of the Mayor, Auckland Emergency Management issued a region-wide emergency mobile alert.

Brown, while in Australia on business, delegated powers to deputy mayor Desley Simpson and said the decision to declare a precautionary State of Local Emergency was based on the lessons learned from the Anniversary Auckland floods.

Meanwhile, Fire and Emergency New Zealand were under pressure after receiving received more than 300 weather-related calls for help between 8 am and 6 pm.

Almost half of those calls were made between 12 pm and 1 pm.

Nineteen calls came from Northland, while 286 came from Auckland.

As the thunderstorms moved south, Fire and Emergency received 48 weather-related calls in the Bay of Plenty area from 4 pm - 6 pm.

Of these, 22 were in the Tauranga area and 15 were in the Rotorua area.

Assessing flood damaged buildings

Thirty Rapid Building Assessment teams are expected to start carrying out rapid building assessments throughout the Auckland region from today.

“This is a hugely important step after any event like this. It ensures that any damage to buildings, unstable ground and any other potential hazards are identified quickly, and action is undertaken to reduce any risks,” says Ms Sood.

“We want Aucklanders to be safe in their homes, so we strongly encourage anyone who wants an assessment to be undertaken to contact us at [email protected]”

Council services and facilities reopening

Meanwhile, most Auckland Council services will reopen under normal opening hours today, with the exception of council-operated pools and leisure centres, which will open from 8 am.

Some facilities have experienced flooding and, as a result, may need to remain closed or provide a reduced service. People are encouraged to check opening hours before leaving home by visiting aucklandleisure.co.nz.

Aucklanders are also encouraged to report any damage to council parks, community facilities or venues, beaches or maunga, roadside or public spaces through Report A Problem.

Storm update from Watercare

Auckland’s tap water remains safe to drink. There are no widespread water outages or issues. However, there is a burst water main in Warkworth caused by a slip. Watercare teams are responding to the issue.