The sea flooding into the foreshore at Cable Bay in the Far North, on Thursday. Photo: LDR / Supplied
Northland Mayoral Forum chair Vince Cocurullo says wind has been the main issue for Whangārei as the region has been lashed by ex-tropical Cyclone Tam.
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Cocurullo said people should take care. Winds gusting as high as 90 km/h had blasted Whangārei since the weather event began.
The high winds forced the cancellation of flights out of Whangārei airport on Thursday, for a second day in a row, and an incoming flight from Auckland had to turn around due to the weather.
Strong easterly winds with big seas and storm surge were blasting the district's east coast.
But the Far North has borne the main impact of rain from the weather system.
Far North deputy mayor Kelly Stratford said there had been widespread flooding in low lying areas. This was exacerbated by storm surge.
Stratford, who is also the Northland Civil Defence chair, said there were widespread power, broadband and/or mobile phoned outages across the Far North district and the wider Northland region.
About 24,000 Northlanders were at one stage without power.
Flooding at Umawera in the Far North. Photo: LDR
Cocurullo - who is also deputy chair of Northland Civil Defence and Mayor of Whangārei - said the Minister of Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell phoned him on Friday morning to check how the region had fared overnight.
He said Mitchell's big concern was how well the region was faring and its likely recovery.
Whangārei MP Shane Reti had also called, en route back from overseas.
Fallen trees were the main issue facing Whangārei, Cocurullo said, especially the ones that had fallen power lines. Contractors had been out since before 5am on Friday clearing the trees.
Cocurullo said he was concerned earlier about the resilience of Sate Highway 1 repairs that had been done on the Brynderwyn Hills after Cyclone Gabrielle, but the absence of major rain in that area meant there had been no slips.
He said 2023's Cyclone Gabrielle had brought heavy rainfall in the Whangārei District, but that had not been the case so far with ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam.
However, some Whangārei locations had received a reasonable level of rainfall. Rainfall measurements from the city showed there had been 24mm in the 24hours until 5.30am on Friday. This compared with 24mm over the same time in the Brynderwyns.
Meanwhile, Northland Regional Council chairman Geoff Crawford said his organisation was on high alert monitoring rainfall and river levels as well as playing a key role in Northland Civil Defence.
Geoff Crawford at his farm with his generator, which he purchased after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: LDR / NZME
The farmer said wind had been the main issue, resulting in widespread power problems. But his Hikurangi Swamp farm had received 220mm of rain in the last three days.
Farmers were worried about the prospect of power outages continuing.
Crawford carted a generator around two of his properties for Thursday's morning milking, to milk 1300 cows across five herds.
He said people should share resources and make sure milk did not need to be dumped into farm dairy effluent ponds.
Crawford bought a $40,000 90kva generator after Cyclone Gabrielle's lengthy power outages. He was using a trailer to move it around to his dairy herds, to milk about 1000 cows.
This had helped save the day.
Crawford said farmers affected by power cuts should liaise closely with Fonterra to ensure their milk is promptly collected, to maximise quality in the absence of dairy vat refrigeration.
Winter milk herds were calving and milk production of 30litres of milk per cow daily meant there were significant production levels at the moment. Crawford said it would be an emergency situation if power outages lasted longer than a day.
He said power outages brought major potential flooding risk for the 5600ha Hikurangi Swamp as its pumps were not working.
Fonterra's Farm Source regional manager Mike Borrie said a small number of Northland dairy farmers were facing power outages.
As of Friday morning there were no tanker access issues, and Fonterra was continuing to pick up milk.
"A handful of farmers have not been able to milk, and a number of farmers requested early pick of milk this morning due to power issues," Borrie said.
Meanwhile, Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson said the district had generally come off reasonably lightly in this storm so far.
There had been a few trees down across roads in the district, including at Pouto and Whakapirau, but these had been cleared. The Paparoa Oakleigh Road had been briefly blocked, but then also cleared.
Jepson said the storm's potential impacts on the vulnerable Mangawhai sandspit were on his mind, amidst the ever-present risk of it breaching. The sandspit protects the harbourside community.
Forecasters predicted waves of as high as 12 metres on Friday.
The impact of rain from ex-Cyclone Tam, at Hikurangi Swamp, on Thursday. Photo: LDR / Supplied
Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society chairman Peter Wethey, who is a former Kaipara District Councillor, said he was closely monitoring the sandspit for the impact of damage there.
It was too early to tell what had happened there, as visibility was non-existent on its eastern surf side edge because of the high seas.
"It's all just massive whitewater at present," Wethey said.
He was hoping the weather system would pass quickly, minimising the risk of damage.
Wethey said there was a possibility the sea had come into part of the spit from the ocean.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
