A series of land slips forced residents to evacuate their homes - and a main arterial route was closed by a fallen tree - as the capital was lashed by wild weather yesterday.
The Wellington region was drenched by three quarters its average November rainfall in just 12 hours.
And council officials are warning residents of Wellington's hilly suburbs to be wary of further weather chaos in the coming days, including the potential of further slips, with another wet week forecast.
Firefighters were rushed off their feet yesterday as the torrential rain brought down trees, flooded houses and caused water-logged banks to collapse.
Calls started coming in about 7.30am when a slip came down behind a property on Balfour St in Mornington, Fire Service central communications shift manager Jan Wills said.
Due to its proximity to the house, residents were told to get out while the slip could be cleared.
"The slip is right up against the house but there doesn't appear to be any damage at this stage. Residents have been advised that it's not safe to enter," she said.
About an hour later, three houses were evacuated on Rangiora Ave in Kaiwharawhara due to another slip.
Sandbags were been brought in to protect houses on the street while insurers came to the scene to assess damage.
About midday a third slip threatened a house on Military Rd in Northland, while a bank collapsed on a blind corner on Wadestown Rd to the north of the city.
Firefighters were also called to flooded houses in Kilbirnie and Newlands, and to clear fallen trees blocking roads in Aro Valley and Tawa.
A council spokesman last night said its call centre had received more than 400 calls from residents reporting flooding and slips.
"City Council contractors have been kept busy clearing floodwaters from low-lying roads," he said.
Main Rd, in Tawa, was last night closed for several hours after a large tree fell on it, blocking traffic.
Diversions were put in place as contractors worked to remove it.
MetService meteorologist said Tom Adams said there was 72mm of rain in MetService's main Wellington monitoring station in Kelburn since midnight Friday.
"Typically in November there's 98mm of rain for the whole month and we've seen 72mm since midnight. That's very nearly three quarters the monthly rainfall," he said.
Wellington City Council civil defence local controller Simon Fleisher said people in the region should remain vigilant with more rain expected next week.
"We're relativity well used to this sort of event - it's never particularly easy, either for the residents or for us - but we're always there to help where we can."
WeatherWatch analyst Aaron Wilkinson said a big front coming in from the Tasman on Monday would bring more wet weather.
"It will mean heavy rain in some parts of the central and lower North Island," he said.
But despite the changeable outlook, it will be warm up north from tomorrow.
"On Monday, temperatures could get up to 23 degrees in Northland and the east coast will also be warm.
"In the South Island, southerly winds will come in behind another low from the Tasman which will mean some more cold weather travelling up the country."
Weather in Auckland is expected to be patchy today, which should brighten up as the week wears on.
"There will be cloud around on Monday morning ad a few showers," Wilkinson said. "But I expect this will clear up a good bit during the day and the sun will break through at times.
"I expect Auckland will see temperatures of about 17-18 degrees over the next few days, while it will be wet in the west of the country but drier in the east."