Two classic cars had to be towed out of Whiritoa today after floodwaters rose to their steering wheels.

It comes after a soaking for the Coromandel Peninsula over the past 24 hours, with rain trackers outside Coromandel town recording 347mm of rain.

The owners of the Holden EH and a 1954 Chevrolet were visiting from Dunedin to attend Repco’s Beach Hop event, Paeroa Towing Services owner Mike Small said.

They were staying in a local Airbnb when the weather closed in. Small was in Whiritoa at the time ready to help, and successfully extracted both cars.

Elsewhere in the region, Whitianga recorded 200mm+ of rain according to Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell, creating a high level of surface water.

The Castle Rock storm tracker in perspective to Coromandel town. Photo / Waikato Regional Council

He said several hundred homes in the north of the peninsula were affected by power outages, including some in Coromandel town.

There had been no reports of lives being endangered or of house flooding and “the worst of the weather seems to have passed”, he said.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said 13 callouts were made between 5pm on Thursday night and 6am this morning, ranging from fallen trees in the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty regions to roofs blowing off in Waikato.

Additional calls were made this morning about more fallen trees and flooding in the Waikato and Coromandel areas.

Looking ahead, MetService has removed all weather warnings for the Coromandel.

“We expect the weather to improve later this evening,” Civil Defence and emergency manager Brian Carter said.

“Please stay updated via our Facebook page, and remember – do not drive through any floodwaters.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.