A person has been swept away in a river, states of emergency have been declared and dozens of people are evacuating campgrounds as heavy rain continues to lash the country’s north.
A man is missing after his vehicle was swept away while he was while trying to cross a ford on the Mahurangi River at Warkworth north of Auckland.
The New Zealand Herald reports that a passenger was able to escape the vehicle.
Warkworth’s chief fire officer Nick McLean said they were called to the scene shortly before 8am.
He said several raft crews had been searching the section of the river from the ford at Mansel Drive to the area around the Mahurangi Hope church, and drones had also been deployed.
He said about 20 people were involved in the search, including firefighters, police officers and whitewater rafters.
🔴🌧Red Heavy Rain Warnings have been issued for Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty including Rotorua, and Gisborne from Tolaga bay northwards.
There is threat to life in these areas from dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and slips. Conditions will… pic.twitter.com/bsZJU3VLcU
— MetService NZ (@MetService) January 20, 2026
Meanwhile, dozens of people have been evacuated in Thames Coromandel, where a precautionary state of emergency has been declared. A state of emergency was declared for Whangarei yesterday.
Thames Coromandel District Mayor Peter Revell told RNZ the eastern seaboard had been bearing the brunt of the weather event.
He said 75 people had been evacuated from flooded campgrounds, and two people had been evacuated from houses that were threatened with flooding.
Further south, an emergency mobile alert has been sent out across Bay of Plenty and Rotorua advising people to put their safety first and prepare to evacuate.
It comes after MetService this morning issued red heavy rain warnings for parts of the North Island, saying there was a threat to life from “significant flooding”.
The forecaster has issued its highest-level warning for Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and parts of Gisborne.
It said a further 120mm of rain was expected to fall in Northland in coming hours on top of what had already fallen, and there would be localised downpours from this afternoon.
MetService says the upgraded warning brings a threat to life from dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and slips.
“Conditions will disrupt travel, make some roads impassable, and isolate communities.”
The MetService warnings came after flooding cut off highway access to the Coromandel town of Whitianga this morning, and there are many slips and local road closures in the area.
MetService said a low-pressure system originating from the tropics was moving towards New Zealand, bringing the heavy rain.
Elsewhere, orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Tasman, Auckland and parts of Gisborne; heavy rain watches have been issued for Waikato, Waitomo, Taupō, Tasman, Nelson, Buller and Grey Districts, Canterbury and Westland; and strong wind watches are in place for Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel Peninsula, Waitomo and Taupō.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the escalation to a red warning came off the back of already impactful heavy rain over the past few days.
“The upper North Island is in the throes of a prolonged heavy rain event, while a tropical low approaches the country, arriving today.”
“With rain falling on to already sodden ground, widespread impacts such as significant flooding, slips, dangerous river conditions, and hazardous road conditions and travel disruptions are likely. These can lead to areas being cut off, as well as danger to life.”
“A red warning signifies that people need to act now as immediate action is required to protect people, animals and property from the impact of the weather. People should also be prepared to follow the advice of official authorities and emergency services.”
Whitianga flooding
Local car mechanic Peter Johnson told RNZ the flooding was on the outskirts and hadn’t reached Whitianga town yet.
“We’re pretty resilient, we’re used to this sort of thing,” he said.
“When it’s heavy rain like this the road does get flooded from time to time.”
He expected the flooding to get worse.
“High tide’s not until 10 o’clock this morning, so the tide is still coming in. The flood’s going to get worse.”
Johnson said he had seem some trucks drive through the floodwaters, but he warned those in cars not to risk it.
“I would just advise people on the northern and southern side of Whitianga, don’t bother trying to get through because it’s too deep.”
Area hit very hard
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell said he was most worried about Northland and Ōakura and the surrounding areas as “they’re basically fully saturated in terms of the ground… and we’ve got more coming”.
He said the areas had been hit “very hard, lots of slips”, and contractors were working to open roads and get access for people.
He urged people to think about their safety and said they should be prepared to leave if necessary, advising them to “have a grab bag ready to go”.
“If you want to move, now is the time to do it.”
Mitchell said it was to anticipate how much water there would be or where it was going to hit, adding that weather warnings and watches were “not a perfect science”.
“I get reports and updates every day of warnings, watches, thunderstorms, possible thunderstorms… everyone tries to be as vigilant as they can… but it’s not a perfect science.”
Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller Jenny Calder said they were expecting severe downpours in the region later today and through the early hours of tomorrow.
She said they were most worried about the east coast which was hit on Sunday by heavy downpours – “it’s eastern areas that we are still quite concerned with”.
Northland had all agencies prepared, she said: “Fire and Emergency, police, St John – everyone is all ready to go”.
– RNZ/Allied Media