A state of civil emergency is likely to be lifted in the flood-hit Kapiti Coast town of Paekakariki later today.
A massive downpour on Friday night brought up to 10,000cu m of gravel, rocks and silt flooding down a valley onto the town, closing State Highway 1 and the main rail
line and burying a motel.
Several businesses and more than 20 homes were damaged by the flood, with mud contaminated by septic tanks sweeping through the area.
Today Kapiti Coast Mayor Alan Milne said it was expected the state of emergency would be lifted following a noon meeting.
It had remained in place until now because of concerns about such issues as public health, he said.
The meeting, like others held in the town since the flood, would be open to the public.
Concerns, such as those about future slips out of the hills onto the town, would be dealt with in a debrief of the event, Mr Milne said.
"It was a very, very unusual event, one we would not have anticipated."
It was possible up to 60mm of rain an hour fell during a prolonged period on Friday night. Flooding and significant damage could have been caused by just a third of that -- 20mm an hour.
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences engineer Graham Hancox warned that thousands of tonnes of gravel and rocks that washed into a valley during the storm still threatened Paekakariki.
"The whole valley bed has now been infilled with gravel and rocks. It's about 2-3m higher than it was before the storm. It hasn't been mobilised yet, but it has the potential if there is another heavy rain event."
- NZPA
