Flash floods hit Taranaki

In New Plymouth, 36mm had fallen this morning, with higher readings around the district, including 68mm on Mt Taranaki and 100mm at Dawson Falls.
In New Plymouth, fire crews responded to around half a dozen call outs, after a heavy downpour around 11am.
New Plymouth fire senior station officer Ian Drewery said many houses suffered flooding after leaf-clogged drains overflowed.
Several rivers and streams threatened to break their banks, and in Hall Terrace, in Oakura, a BMW was washed into the Oakura River and out to sea.
Other than the loss of the car, Mr Drewery said he was not aware of much major damage. A ceiling had collapsed at one downtown building, but fire crews had not been called to assist.
"Our residents are pretty resilient.
"This was just a flash weather event which was over in less than an hour," he said.
The MetService said the rain band would have moved over the east coast and away from New Zealand by this evening.