Radio New Zealand
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 638 pm
Several cars have been trapped in floodwater and multiple homes flooded after torrential rain in Auckland.
The Fire Service’s communications team said it had received a report of a car underwater on Subway Rd in Pukekohe.
Two people were trapped inside and water was up to the windscreen, it said.
There had also been a report that cars were being washed away by flooding on Beachcroft Ave in Onehunga.
A factory was flooding nearby on Waller St, and someone was trapped upstairs.
What we know so far:
· People reportedly trapped in submerged car in Pukekohe
· Cars reportedly washed away in Onehunga
· Multiple homes flooded across west Auckland
· Person trapped in flooded building in Onehunga
· People trapped in car which entered a storm water drain in Puni, Franklin
· Two cars trapped in floodwater in west Auckland
· Buildings flooded at Matipo Primary, Te Atatu
· Creeks overflowed in Swanson and Mount Roskill
A car had also entered a storm water drain on Waiuku Rd in Puni, Franklin. The occupants were unable to exit due to the floodwater, the communications team said on Twitter.
Multiple buildings had flooded at Matipo Primary School in Te Atatu, while homes in all suburbs west of Mangere had also flooded, it said. The Fire Service said 80 homes in total had been affected by the flooding.
One motorist in Onehunga said the water was thigh deep on some streets, and he ended up helping pull vehicles out of the flooding after his became stranded.
“As I was approaching this water there was a car situated on the left-hand side of the road here and about half-way through my crossing it managed to float in front of me, and I lost all momentum and as a result my truck’s now dead on the side of the road.”
Downpour breaks Auckland record
NIWA said 25.4 mm of rain was recorded between 1 pm and 2 pm in Auckland – making it the city’s wettest hour ever recorded in June.
The city experienced several bouts of heavy rain today, with the rain clearing about 2 pm.
MetService duty forecaster Ciaran Doolin said the downpour had since eased.
“The most significant set of falls we’ve seen in the last hour – between 25 mm in an hour to about 30 mm – so it’s quite significant amount of rain to fall in a short period of time, and is consistent with what we call downpour.”
Auckland Transport said all major roads were now open, and it was checking whether any public transport services had been affected.
Civil Defence said the problems caused by heavy rain in Auckland are easing and the flood waters are draining away.
Aaron Davis from Civil Defence said there had been a very high number of calls and asked people to be patient while the council and emergency services dealt with the call-outs.
“There’s significant call volumes that we have been going through, but we are prioritising them and getting through and will follow up why there’s potential flooding there and what we can do to remediate that.”
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