What you need to know: Travel disruption, flooding and evacuations as severe weather hits New Zealand

Brian from Mount Roskill

Heavy rain is pummelling parts of the country, causing widespread travel disruption, flooding and evacuations.
The top of the South Island is bearing the brunt of the rain, with state of emergencies issued as a result of significant rainfall. Dozens of homes have been evacuated due to rising floodwaters.
Fire and Emergency said it has responded to 31 calls, with crews rescuing people trapped in vehicles, assisting with evacuations and pumping water from flooded homes.
Meanwhile, Auckland has been hit by severe thunderstorms and torrential rain.
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State of emergencies declared
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A state of emergency has been declared for the Nelson Tasman region as a result of severe weather and evacuations.
Tasman District Council said the declaration will allow agencies to rapidly respond, with slips and flooding across the region and further rain forecast.
People are being evacuated in Brightwater and Upper Moutere and residents in Riwaka might need to leave.
A local state of emergency is also in place for part of Marlborough, where 60 households in Spring Creek near Blenheim were ordered to evacuate because of fears a Wairau River stopbank might not hold.
Fire and Emergency (FENZ) has activated its Local Coordination Centre in Nelson to coordinate its response activities across the whole top of the South area.
Weather warnings and watches
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MetService has issued several severe weather warnings and watches across the country.
A red severe thunderstorm warning is in place for western Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, Whakatane and Rotorua.
Earlier parts of Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty were under a severe thunderstorm warning, however this has been lifted.
Meanwhile, a heavy snow watch has been issued for Central Otago, Southland north of Lumsden, also inland Dunedin and Clutha until noon Saturday.
Orange heavy rain warnings:
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Bay of Plenty: 9am to midnight Friday
Gisborne/Tairawhiti about and north of Ruatoria: 5pm Friday to 2am Saturday
Dunedin: 9pm Friday to 6pm Saturday
Clutha: 9pm Friday to 6pm Saturday
Heavy rain watches:
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Nelson and Tasman Districts from Motueka to SH 6, including Nelson Lakes: 9am to noon Friday
North Otago: 3pm Friday to 3am Saturday
Southland about and east of Mossburn: midnight Friday to 3pm Saturday
Coromandel Peninsula: 9am to 5pm Friday
Waikato: 9am to 5pm Friday
Taupō and northern Taihape: 9am to 5pm Friday
Taranaki, apart from Taranaki Maunga: 9am to 2pm Friday
Road closures
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The top of the South Island is cut off at the moment with a number of state highways closed.
NZ Transport Agency is warning drivers to be prepared for wet weather driving and to take extra care on the roads.
FENZ Steve Trigg warned people not to drive through floodwater and to respect all "road closed" signs.
"It's impossible to judge the depth of the water, so when people become stranded they are in danger of drowning."
Here is a list of the highways closed:
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SH6 is closed between Havelock and Hira, and Kohatu and Richmond
SH60 is closed between Richmond and Collingwood
SH63 is colsed from Anglesea Street to St Arnaud
SH6 in lower Buller is closed from Gorge to Inanghua
Roads closed in Marlborough include:
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Queen Charlotte Drive is closed at the Havelock end
Ronga Road is closed from the SH6 intersection, closing access to French Pass and Tennyson Inlet
New Renwick Road is closed between Fairhall School and Dog Point Road
Jacksons Road Ford is closed
All Spring Creek roads are closed from SH1 through to the corner of Thomas and Neils Road
Flights affected
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Dozens of domestic flights bound for or departing from Auckland Airport have been cancelled or delayed due to severe weather conditions.
Auckland Airport said 21 flights have been cancelled and 11 flights have been delayed.
It said the weather is mostly impacting flights to or from regional destinations.
The airport also confirmed that a China Eastern Airlines flight from Hangzhou to Auckland has been diverted to Christchurch due to the unsettled weather conditions. China Eastern Airlines also confirmed the diversion.
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