Nasy weather brings insurance warning

Nasty weather battered much of the country yesterday, with heavy rain, slips, fog, flooding and snow closing roads and disrupting traffic.

The bout of wintry calamities over the past month has led to warnings from insurers that homeowners whose properties are damaged by disasters could struggle to find companies willing to re-insure them.

In Wellington yesterday, contractors worked all day to clear a large slip at Horokiwi on the Western Hutt Rd near Petone. The slip caused delays of about 45 minutes for north-bound traffic. It was the third significant slip in that area in less than a fortnight.

While frustrating for motorists, it was even more distressing for Horokiwi resident Peter Vincent, whose house sits immediately above the site of all three slips. "It's a nightmare, but we'll survive," Mr Vincent told the Herald on Sunday last night.

Although his house was not in any obvious danger of slipping, three old pohutukawa trees were sucked down. The Vincents have been using a generator for 10 days, after an earlier slip took out a power pole. "We just have to grin and bear it and get on with it," Mr Vincent said. "One thing you can't do: you can't beat nature."

A meeting with Transit NZ was scheduled for tomorrow to discuss compensation and further work.

Traffic was also disrupted due to slips on the Rimutaka Hill Rd between Wellington and the Wairarapa, and there was surface flooding on State Highway 2, north of Featherston.

Near Wanganui, there were further serious slips on State Highway 4 - which has already been closed for more than a week because of flooding and landslides. In Auckland, fog disrupted flights and caused visibility problems on motorways. In the South Island, the highway between Te Anau and Milford was shut because of snow and the danger of avalanches.

Meanwhile, three Hunterville families have returned to their homes, after being evacuated to escape a huge slip caused by torrential rains.

It is estimated that it could be up to three months before the residents of the small Manawatu town can expect the large chunk of fallen hillside to be removed.

As locals in the lower North Island hoped that the spell of bad weather had come to an end, the insurance industry warned that homeowners and insurers had to become more attuned to how New Zealand's climate was changing.

Insurance Council chief executive Chris Ryan said there would come a point when the industry would refuse to insure people in disaster-prone towns or risky areas.

"Insurers increasingly are saying, we'll build you a new house, but it won't be there."