City council staff and contractors had little warning on the intensity of last night's thunderstorm that resulted in surface flooding across parts of the city.

Cameron Road flooded from 15^th Avenue through to Greerton, and there were reports of flooding on 21^st Avenue, 15^th Avenue and Fraser Street.

At Ngatai Road, Bethlehem and the Historic Village, city council rain gauges recorded between 65-70mm of rainfall last night within 90 minutes. Other parts of the city received up to 25mm of rain in the same period.

But it wasn't until 7.30pm that MetService issued a thunderstorm warning for Tauranga, based on its live radar.

'This meant that the storm was already underway and that there was a higher risk of intense rainfall,” says the city council's emergency manager Paul Baunton.

'When this occurs, we don't get the opportunity to pre-clear drains or ponding hotspots. During the storm, our contractor was very active in responding to areas where flooding was occurring and staff were supporting them. The contact centre increased its staff to manage the additional calls.”

The thunderstorm watch in place during the afternoon was for the North Eastern part of the North Island and didn't give any certainty, apart from stating weather conditions existed that might cause thunder, says Paul.

Council staff continued to monitor MetService weather software during the afternoon and early evening.

It was then estimated the city would receive 4mm of rain between 7-8pm, and a further 7mm between 8-9pm, and the weather radar showed relatively benign conditions for Tauranga.