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Schools Closed, Highway Flooded As Heavy Rain Hits Northland
Weather has eased across Northland after a night of heavy rain that led to power outages and school closures.
Northland Regional Council data shows the wettest places overnight were around Whangaroa Harbour and Ōruru in Doubtless Bay, both of which recorded more than 110 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours to 8am on Thursday.
In the Far North town of Kāeo, at high tide at 6am saw the Kāeo River came close to flooding State Highway 10 but is now receding.
Further north on State Highway 10, between Ness Road and Otangaroa Road, the northbound lane was earlier closed due to flooding, with temporary traffic management in place.
However, as of 10am, no formal closures had been reported of state highways or local roads in Northland.
While there was flooding on roads such as Omaunu Road and Dip Road in Kaeo, they remained passable to four-wheel-drives.
Kāeo's primary and high schools are closed today, as are some schools in Doubtless Bay, with school buses cancelled due to unsafe driving conditions.
Kaeo School principal Paul Barker told Morning Report the rain last night was "pretty awful".
"It's a little bit scary in our part of the world,. We haven't had any rain, any real rain, since December. This is kind of what tends to happen we go from filling our water tanks at school to me looking at them today, they're slightly overflowing."
He said while it was still raining it appeared to be easing off and he hoped they were past the worst of it.
Power has been restored to more than 400 households in South Hokianga.
But power was out to thousands in Northland after 11am when a Transpower tower fell near Kumeū in north-west Auckland.
There were no weather-related power outages in the Whangārei or Kaipara districts on Thursday morning.
MetService lifted its orange heavy rain warning for Northland at 8.30am, while its severe thunderstorm watch was lifted at 7.45am.
Northland farmers, such as Evan Smeath of Hukerenui, took the weather in their stride.
"It was a normal wet night for Northland, a normal wet winter's day. Nothing to write home about," he said.
Northland Civil Defence spokesman Zach Woods said rivers in the Far North were still running high, but most had peaked and were falling.
"Although the rain has eased, it's important to remember hazards resulting from this weather event may continue to be present for the rest of today, as surface water and river levels recede," he said.
Woods urged motorists in Northland to take extra care on the roads, increase following distances, and turn their headlights on.
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