Households evacuated after Wellington slip can't return until site investigation is complete

Contractors using a digger to clear a slip blocking Main Road, Tawa, one of many affecting roads in the Wellington region.Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Council crews are working hard to clear more than 40 slips across Wellington - as well as 20 from last night.

Heavy rain has caused chaos across Wellington with slips, flooding and downed trees making for challenging driving conditions.

A Wellington City Council spokesman multiple roads are closed including Main Road in Tawa, Birdwood St in Karori, The Terrace in Te Aro and Onslow Rd in Khandallah.

The Onslow Rd slip caused three households to have to evacuate yesterday - none of which have been able to return today.

The slip blocked the accessway to the houses, but residents were able to be evacuated via their neighbour's property, he said.

"We are keeping all the occupants warm and dry, police have set up a roadblock, and we have diversions in place.

Wellington City Council has placed the households evacuated into temporary accommodation, and a council spokesperson told the Herald a site investigation will be required to know whether they can return home.

State Highway 59 has closed between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki, with council contractors on site to clear debris.

People are urged to use State Highway 1 Transmission Gully as an alternative route as the road will be closed for some time.

Seatoun Tunnel has also closed again to help clear debris left from a large tree which fell last week.

There have been several other slips across Wellington City overnight and into Friday morning, and a couple of blocked drains.

From Kelburn to Khandallah, slips have covered roads and made commuting challenging and the council recommends people keep their wits about them while driving.

State Highway 59 has closed between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki, with council contractors on site to clear debris.

People are urged to use State Highway 1 Transmission Gully as an alternative route as the road will be closed for some time.

"Crews are prioritising work and focusing on clearing slips from arterial routes – this means motorists and pedestrians need to take care because some smaller slips may not be cleared today. Road users are urged to drive and ride to the conditions especially in hillier parts of the city where more slips may come down over the next few days."

There have been almost 500 slips over the past few soggy weeks in the capital.

They have been caused by a long period of wet weather, according to GNS Science.