Bands of heavy rain are expected to spread south across the country today, as orange heavy rain warnings remain in place for Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty including Rotorua and Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay.
MetService said there was a "high chance of upgrading to a red warning" in Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula, while up to 280mm/h of rain was expected in Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay.
"Dangerous river conditions, flooding, and slips likely. Dangerous driving conditions and road closures are expected," the forecaster said.
"Do not enter floodwaters and avoid unnecessary travel. Be ready for communication and power outages."
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Days of downpours had already flooded areas of the north, washing out roads and cutting power.
Yesterday, Whangārei District Council declared a "precautionary state of emergency" for the next seven days in response to severe weather.
"The communities of Ōakura, Whangaruru South and Whangaruru North and surrounding areas have been significantly impacted already," Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper said.
People in Auckland and Waikato were also warned to expect strong gales through the day, as well as potential heavy rain across the region and in large parts of the South Island.
Meteorologist Katie Lyons told Stuff that Northland was heading into its most hazardous period of weather today, after several days of rain have already left the ground saturated.
"The ground’s already saturated, and there hasn’t been any time for it to dry up, and we’ve got more on the way," she said.
Lyons said a tropical low moving south was now "starting to ramp up", with heavier rain developing first in the far north this morning before spreading across the region.
Road closures, flooding in Coromandel
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said State Highway 25 was closed between Discovery Dr and Simpson's Beach due to flooding, as well as near Wade Rd.
"This means Whitianga can not currently be accessed via SH25 from north or south."
NZTA said crews were on site, however it was likely that flooding would recede until after high tide at approximately 10am.
Pictures sent to 1News showed flooding at the Wharekaho one way bridge in the Coromandel shortly after 7am.
'Be prepared and ready' - Northland Civil Defence
Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller Jenny Calder told RNZ there had not been “any further damage to the region” so far this morning.
"Later today, we're expecting it to come through and we are expecting severe downpours to hit the region later today, and in through into the early hours of tomorrow morning."
She said the east coast areas were of particular concern, as these were smashed by rain on Sunday into this week.
Calder said all emergency service agencies, and power companies, were prepared to respond to incidents, and were already conducting extra checks online in flooding hotspots.
She urged people to "be prepared and ready".
"If that means having a grab bag ready to go and identifying places to go if the rain does come and their properties are starting to flood, to look for where they can evacuate to.
"But we just really like people to be prepared, and to keep safe," she said.
Full watches and warnings list
Heavy Rain Warning – Orange
Northland – 21 hours from 4am today to 1am Thursday.
Coromandel Peninsula – 34 hours from 8pm Tuesday to 6am Thursday.
Bay of Plenty including Rotorua – 21 hours from 1pm today to 10am Thursday.
Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay – 19 hours from 3pm today to 10am Thursday.
Heavy Rain Watch
Canterbury – 19 hours from 6pm today to 1pm Thursday.
Westland District – 18 hours from 3pm today to 9am Thursday.
Auckland and Great Barrier Island – 15 hours from 1pm today to 4am Thursday.
Waikato, Waitomo and Taupo – 15 hours from 3pm today to 6am Thursday.
Tasman and Nelson Districts – 21 hours from noon today to 9am Thursday.
Buller and Grey Districts – 18 hours from 3pm today to 9am Thursday.
Strong Wind Watch
Auckland and Great Barrier Island – 15 hours from 8am to 11pm today.
Waikato, Coromandel Peninsula, Waitomo and Taupo – 18 hours from 8am today to 2am Thursday.
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