Weather bomb strands commuters

CAPITAL CHAOS: Commuters wait in vain at Wellington Railway station yesterday. PHOTO/PETER KING

For anyone who lived north of Wellington, it was a case of "get home - if you can".

The "weather bomb" which struck Wellington overnight Wednesday and throughout yesterday closed afternoon rail services, trapping Wairarapa train commuters, and forcing long detours for drivers.

By 4.30pm, MetLink cancelled all trains and bus services to Wairarapa due to flooding and closed the Wellington Railway station.

With SH2 closed between Ngauranga Gorge and Melling, Wairarapa commuters looked to find carpooling options via Porirua and the Haywards Hill road to the Hutt, or catch a bus service as far as they could.

The Rimutaka Hill Rd remained open, although delays were advised.

"I'm trying to get a bus to Upper Hutt and get a lift from there," said Peter King, who was at the station trying to get home to Carterton about 3pm yesterday.

Keith Thorsen, who works at Department of Internal Affairs, was also stuck. He commutes by train daily from Carterton.

"I'll have to stay in the city tonight with a friend," he said.

Workers who took the Haywards Hill route by car described "crawling traffic".

Greytown public servant and train commuter John Summers managed to get a ride, but was enduring a slow crawl north.

He said they decided to get away from Wellington early in the afternoon.

Mr Summers and others had opted for the route via Porirua and Haywards Hill, but speaking from the car, he estimated they were doing 5km/h.

"The traffic's just crawling really slowly," he said.

Damien Gillies-Pivac posted on the Times-Age Facebook page how he left his Wellington office at 1pm to head north for the Haywards crossing.

By 3pm, he had made it to Tawa via detours - a trip that would normally take 20 minutes.

Masterton worker Nicola Champion said many of her colleagues were still watching weather reports and debating their options.

Ms Champion said she normally took the train, but drove to work after receiving a text the railways were running a partial bus service because of an early-morning derailment.

She hoped to be able to take the Haywards Hill route to Wairarapa.

She said people were "rallying around" to organise billets for those who could not get out of Wellington.

"We've got quite a contingent that live in Wairarapa, but also there's a lot from the Kapiti coast.

"At the end of the day, it will be what it will be."

Featherston commuter Alex Ball said he was waiting for a ride and would set off later in the evening, when traffic had hopefully eased.

"I can see the motorway and nobody is going anywhere fast."

Most of his colleagues who could leave had already done so.

"I'll make it home eventually."

Masterton District Council manager Sam Rossiter-Stead was in Wellington yesterday, ironically for an emergency management meeting.

"By the time I had got there, an emergency situation had developed in Kapiti."

He said it took 3 hours to get home.

Christina Bonallack, wife of the Times-Age editor Andrew, posted pictures of Tawa's Main St, near her work, under "a foot of water".

Many staff were going home after hearing their houses had flooded.

Back in Featherston, resident Beelah Wilson said families were helping out with collecting children while parents were stuck. "I've just picked up a friend's daughter - her parents work in Wellington, and they are going to stay there. It's what you do - jump in and help out."

Flooding hit all over Wellington, with Kapiti Coast towns bearing the brunt of the weather bomb.

CAPITAL CHAOS: Commuters wait in vain at Wellington Railway station yesterday. PHOTO/PETER KING