Heavy rain and strong winds are lashing holiday hotspots in the North Island, causing chaos for campers and prompting warnings for boaties and motorists.
A storm sweeping down the country was expected to bring up to 200mm of rain to Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel today, with severe weather forecast for the rest of the island this afternoon and tomorrow.
Widespread rain has started up North, heading south. Follow here: https://t.co/prKU7O2R01 ^AH pic.twitter.com/8e2l8gyfHe
— MetService (@MetService) December 31, 2015
The foul weather would make its way down the country over the next few days, triggered by a low-pressure system that is dragging air down from the tropics.
In the lower South Island, today was forecast to be fine in Dunedin, but there would be showers and southerly winds from tomorrow until Tuesday. Showers and cold winds were also forecast for Queenstown and Wanaka over the weekend.
The MetService warned the weather could could trigger flash flooding and slips in the North Island today, especially in low-lying areas.
"Heavy rain warnings and wind watches mean there is potential for flooding and damage, so campers and holidaymakers should check and secure their camping and outdoor equipment, and be ready to move quickly if required," Auckland Civil Defence director John Dragicevich said.
"Whilst this is a precautionary warning, there is some nasty weather coming and we urge people to be prepared to act quickly if the storm gathers more momentum.
Surface flooding was likely across Auckland, with the potential for more serious flooding in Great Barrier and Whangaparaoa, he said.
A weather warning was in place for Northland, Coromandel and Auckland, with a "watch" for the Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Kapiti, Horowhenua, Wellington, Wairarapa, Nelson and Marlborough.
Mass exodus in Coromandel
Campsites in the Coromandel have seen a mass exodus overnight, with many leaving as soon as the warnings came through to avoid the nasty weather.
At Waikawau, on the east coast, campsite manager Rachael Gaul said yesterday they had 1100 in tents, and now there was only about half that left.
"A lot of people are leaving. The rain started this morning and so far we've had no flooding but it will get rough," she said. "It's very disappointing but luckily many people were planning to leave today or tomorrow anyway, and the weather until now has been really fine."
At Stony Bay, further north, campsite manager Terry Byrne said they only had 20 hardy souls left. "We had about 370 before New Year's Eve. But after we went around and told everyone about the warnings yesterday, they all decided to leave."
At the Department of Conservation campsite in Uretiti, in Northland, hundreds of campers had packed their bags and left, staff member Glenys Foster said.
However, in the Bay of Islands, Angela Armitage of Orongo Bay Holiday Park in Russel said the site had been spared the worst of the weather and reported the campers were happy and staying put.
Camping 'carnage'
Holidaymaker Stuart Beattie today described his camping spot near Waipu Cove, just south of Whangarei, as "carnage."
The man, who had been sleeping in a two person tent at the Department of Conservation campsite, told Newstalk ZB that when he woke up and poked his head out of the tent this morning, "everything had gone to pieces" outside.
"I'm sitting in my car at Uretiti beach just north of Waipu and it's just carnage - I woke up about an hour ago in a pool in the tent. The storm hit about 3am so a few people started battening down the hatches but it all chaos here at the moment - there's people that arrived here yesterday, their tents are just rubble on the floor."
Mr Beattie said his tent was blown over, but bigger ones fared even worse. The ground at the site was sandy, meaning gusts of wind blew out tent pegs overnight.
It was likely to cause campers to leave early, despite "a lot of people who wanted to be here to the third or fourth", he said. "That's what we were planning - but now it's home time."
- NZ Herald
