Watchers, Teo Blašković: According to MetService meteorologists, the storm dropped 220 mm (8.6 inches) of rain on Whangarei from 19:00 LT on July 17 to 07:00 LT on July 18. ‘We call this a greater-than-500-year return period,’ the service said.
The worst of the storm came around 19:00 LT, with about 50 mm (1.9 inches) per hour.
Several gauges exceeded 250 mm (9.8 inches) of rain in 24 hours, including over 150 mm (5.9 inches) in just 4 hours at Whangarei Aero and 56.8 mm (2.2 inches) at Kaikohe in just 1 hour.
According to NIWA, Whangarei recorded its wettest July hour on record between 20:00 and 21:00 LT on July 17, with 39.6 mm (1.5 inches).
132.6 mm (5.2 inches) fell in just 4 hours between 18:00 and 22:00 LT, which is 78% of the monthly normal.
Further rainfalls of 40 to 60 mm (1.5 – 2.3 inches) an hour could still fall this morning, July 18, MetService said, adding that the storm should break by the afternoon and turn to periods of showers later in the day before petering off tomorrow.
Officials are urging residents to stay off the roads and to keep up with weather watches and warnings via MetService.
Parts of the region were under floodwaters more than 1 m (3.3 feet) deep, NZ Herald reported. Floods and landslides partially blocked Whangarei Heads Road in a number of places, prompting officials to call in a rescue helicopter.
Northland Civil Defence and Emergency Management said fire crews carried the brunt of the emergency response overnight, rescuing people trapped in cars in floodwaters and helping evacuate people from homes.
Claire Nyberg, Civil Defence emergency management officer, said last night’s rainfall was comparable to when Tropical Cyclone “Wilma” hit New Zealand and some Pacific islands in 2011.
A huge waterspout formed near Tupou Bay in the Far North district after midday. By the end of the day, the district was effectively cut off by floods and landslides from the rest of the country.
Prophetic Link:
“In fires, in floods, in earthquakes, in the fury of the great deep, in calamities by sea and by land, the warning is given that God’s Spirit will not always strive with men. Manuscript Releases 3:315 (1897).” Last Day Events, page 26.2.