Thousands of school students were sent home throughout Northland yesterday. School buses were rescheduled and parents were asked to pick up their children early, if possible. Mail deliveries were disrupted and more than 1700 Whangarei homes lost power because of flooding. Flood-damaged rail tracks near Hukerenui and Maromaku caused KiwiRail to cancel its southbound daily log train from Otiria. Northland Civil Defence spokesman Graeme MacDonald this morning said councils did not have to activate welfare centres overnight and its emergency operation centre would wind down today, with skeleton crews on board to monitor the situation. High tide passed on the east coast shortly before 7am today and did not appear to cause any unforseen issues. Despite the rain easing, Mr MacDonald urged Northlanders to keep an eye on local rivers and streams, which could take up to two days to recede below flood levels. Northland Regional Council hydrologist Dale Hansen said while many of the region's smaller rivers were now receding, larger rivers including Northern Wairoa and Kaihu would continue to remain very high for another day or two. More bad weather is set to lash the North Island tomorrow, as the sub-tropical low stalled over Northland is forecast to create a secondary low north of the country that will rapidly cross the upper North Island, bringing torrential rain and possible gales.
[link to hisz.rsoe.hu]