Groundskeepers at Auckland’s sodden stadiums are assessing pitches after more flooding on Wednesday.
Pictures from this morning show Eden Park’s number two cricket ground completely underwater after rain dumped more than 60mm in two hours over some parts of Auckland overnight.
Staff at the ground were pumping water off the playing surface since early Wednesday morning, as they wait to see what kind of damage has been done, said Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner.
Sautner said the groundskeeping team was “100% focussed on delivering our upcoming calendar of events”.
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“Once the water is drained, the turf team will be undertaking an assessment of the grounds to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose.”
The main field inside the stadium was flooded on Friday during the torrential downpour.
North Harbour Stadium is set to host a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in just over two weeks.
Representatives of the stadium are yet to respond to questions about the state of the pitch and whether it will be ready for the games.
Auckland was hit by heavy rain again on Wednesday, only five days after historic downpours caused widespread flooding across the city.
Homes, businesses and roads were again flooded, and at least two people were injured and another trapped, when a building collapsed in Manukau Heads on Wednesday afternoon.
Manukau Heads is a rural township on a peninsula in south Auckland, about 100km from the central city. Some roads into the peninsula are blocked due to slips from flooding overnight.
Meanwhile, part of a carpark of a hotel on Auckland’s North Shore has fallen into the sea.
Drone footage shot by Stuff shows Bayswater’s Ocean Breeze Hotel is perched above a significant slip, which is understood to have fallen on Friday night.
Across the city work is underway across to clean up further damage across the road and public transport network, Auckland Council said on Wednesday afternoon.
Buses are replacing all services on the Western Line between Britomart and Swanson due to power outages, slips and flooding on the tracks.
Bus services have been delayed as they detour around flooding.
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