Auckland in New Zealand is bracing for more rain after the city recorded its wettest 24 hours on record, leading to sudden widespread flooding and a state of emergency declaration.
Air NZ has diverted 12 international flights after Auckland Airport closed yesterday afternoon due to significant flooding, with thousands left stranded.
It's expected to reopen at 10am AEDT.
Significant areas of the city's flooded north and west are without electricity this morning, as Fire and Rescue New Zealand (FRNZ) works through a backlog of 111 urgent calls for assistance from last night.
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"Rescue calls were prioritised overnight, with firefighters attending first to people who were trapped in their homes or vehicles by floodwater, slips, and fallen trees," FRNZ said.
"We estimate over 2000 calls were received."
MetService is warning of more rain throughout the day and there's a chance of another thunderstorm with a further 23mm expected on Saturday.
The rain is set to continue for the whole of next week, but weather forecasters are predicting the heaviest falls will be further south.
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The Auckland Airport weather station recorded the wettest 24 hours on record and wettest January on record.
The wettest January was in 1986 with 20cm and the wettest month ever July 1998 30cm.
This January has hit 32cm so far.
The thunderstorm watch was lifted at 7.31am this morning.
https://twitter.com/MetService/status/1618979769453871106?s=20&t=XPldKFQTCE30ac8JHZlHoAAirport chaos
Thousands were left stranded at the airport, including 200 who were trapped overnight, due to ankle deep flooding.
Flights are expected to resume at 10am AEDT.
Sydney man Mark Andrews was due to fly home at 6.15pm on Friday, however the flight was cancelled after passengers had already boarded the plane.
The more than 200 passengers were kept on the plane until 1.45am and were treated as if they were flying anyway, with crew providing meals and turning the lights off so people could sleep.
Those in business class were treated to champagne.
Only half of the plane's toilets were working, Andrews said.
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"They (the crew) were worried about that," he said.
He added that the crew on the plane were great and the vibes on the plane were good, with passengers chatting to one another and sharing charging cables.
The passengers were let back into the airport at 1.45am as the plane was running out of water.
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Inside the airport it was like "zombieland", Andrews said, with about 1000 displaced people walking around or sleeping on the floor.
Staff working in the duty free area were also stuck in the airport.
No one could leave as the downstairs terminals were flooded.
It was too flooded outside the terminal for cars or buses to approach.
Potato chips and cookies were given to passengers, but ran out quickly.
Blankets that were promised to passengers were not handed out until 5am.
"A lot of people were cold," Andrews said.
He believed the airport needed to have a better plan for when events like this happen, adding that it had a duty to care for its patrons.
Flights turned around
An Emirates flight to New Zealand has turned around midway through its journey as the torrential rain which hit Auckland forced the closure of the airport.
Flight EK448 had departed Dubai just before 11am on Friday (local time) and was halfway through its 15-and-a-half-hour journey before the decision was made to head back to the United Arab Emirates.
There will be no flights into or out of Auckland until noon on Saturday at the earliest, the airport said in a statement overnight.
The airport's closure came hours after a landing plane hit and damaged several runway lights, causing major delays to flights.
The Emirates A380 wasn't the only long-haul flight which had to turn around on Friday.
An American Airlines service from Dallas Fort Worth to Auckland had to return to Texas after a 10-hour flight to nowhere.
Homes flooded
Kevin Webb and Jay Saussey lives on Mount Eden Road in Auckland where flooding came up to chest level in their home.
"I was in panic mode, and then just tried to get out of the water that was rising so quickly."
"It got out of hand very quickly, it went from 'this is not good' to 'oh shit'," he said.
A thick film of mud now covers the floor.
Items have been moved around the house, like a pumpkin that was in the kitchen is now in the hallway.
Everything below chest height is wet.
"We've still got some butter, we can have toast," she said.
"I've Googled how to clean up after a flood," he said.
They're thinking about taking what they can and leaving for good after being in the home for 18 years.
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