The torrential rain which pounded several regions of the upper North Island yesterday including the Waikato, Coromandel Peninsula, Auckland and Tauranga has eased but has left destruction in its wake.

Whitianga Fire Brigade Acting Deputy Chief Paul Cowen says firefighters were called out to several properties after yesterday morning’s downpour.

Portable pumps were used to pump out eight homes in the town. The occupant of one of the houses was trapped upstairs on crutches. Staff have helped residents move furniture out of the way of floodwaters and have helped to clean up. He says most of the floodwaters have now receded and he hopes a wind change will help to dry out the town.

A garden shed in Te Aroha was blown apart by strong winds and an iron roof was lifted from a home in the town.

Tauranga was also dealing with surface flooding. Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says emergency services worked to clear flooding in parts of Mt Maunganui and Papamoa.

“Not only is there surface flooding in those areas, but there’s also surface flooding in and around the Tauranga area in general.”

Mr Campion says Ocean Beach Rd at Mt Maunganui, Topaz Dve in Papamoa and Huia Ave in Arataki were particularly hazardous. A family was rescued from a car trapped in floodwaters on Ocean Beach Rd.

In Auckland, a supermarket in Mt Roskill, a cafe in Sandringham and around a dozen homes throughout the region were flooded.

In one house in Mt Roskill the water was knee deep.

Firefighters also dealt with a metre of water in a factory in Penrose.