Driver terrified by 'horrendous' Coromandel driving conditions

A storm that lashed the top of the North Island today has moved away from the country. An intense rain band moved over Auckland, Waikato, and the Coromandel Peninsula, which was cut off by slips on the Kopu-Hikuai and Manaia roads. One motorist caught out by flooding in Coromandel on Sunday says driving conditions were so horrendous, she was shaking behind the wheel. Lee Sayers, an accommodation manager at Kuaotunu Beach in the peninsula's far north, was on her way there from Tauranga on Sunday afternoon. Heavy rain hit as she drove towards Whitianga on State Highway 25 and just before the 309 Road, it got worse. She told RNZ reporter Sophia Duckor-Jones the conditions were terrifying.