New Zealand Engulfed in Torrential Rain and Floods

“They are calling it a one-in-500-year rainfall here in Whangarei,” friends of Latitude Lewis and Alyssa Allen of the Island Packet 420 Levana told us over the weekend. Whangarei (pronounced fong-ah-ray), a boating hub on the east coast of the North Island, recorded 214 millimeters of rain — that’s almost eight and a half inches — in 24 hours on July 17, and a further 44 mm the following day, according to New Zealand’s MetService.

“[We] spent the morning helping our dock neighbors on the Island Packet 380 Peppermint Patty get a whole tree out from under the rudder and self-steering gear.  You can walk on the debris between the boats, it’s so thick!” (Tyeler and Haley Quentmeyer, veterans of the 2019 Pacific Puddle Jump, are the owners of Peppermint Patty, which hails from San Francisco.)

Radio New Zealand said that the full extent of the damage caused by the floods — which were concentrated in New Zealand’s Northland, or the northern tip of the North Island — is still not clear. Several water-treatment plants were damaged during the deluge. “In Whangarei, residents are being asked to halve their water use,” RNZ said. “Two of the city’s three plants are partially working, and up to 80% of the water normally needed for the city is being produced. However, the Whangārei District Council says unless there is a 50% water saving, the city runs the risk of running out.”