WELLINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Authorities urged evacuations in some low-lying areas of New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday and police searched for a missing man who was swept away in a river after continued heavy rain and strong winds triggered flooding, swollen rivers and landslides.<\/p>\n
Local councils across the north asked residents in flood-prone areas to move to higher ground and others to prepare to evacuate if needed. Several roads were closed because of slips and flooding, the New Zealand Transport Agency said.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Images shared on news sites showed flooded farmland and surface water across roads.<\/p>\n Police said a man was missing after he was washed away with his vehicle during a river crossing near Warkworth earlier on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell told Radio New Zealand he was most concerned about the Northland region, including the town of Oakura and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n “They’re basically fully saturated in terms of the ground … and we’ve got more coming,” Mitchell said.<\/p>\n National forecaster MetService issued warnings for much of the top half of the North Island, saying there was a threat to life from dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and landslides, with travel disruption likely and some communities potentially isolated.<\/p>\n Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Jamie Freed<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n