Surface flooding on State Highway 2. Photo / Debbie Wilson
Surface flooding on State Highway 2. Photo / Debbie Wilson
About 25 properties are cut off due to a landslip on Kāpiti Coast, with wild weather continuing to slam the capital this afternoon.
Wellington commuters have been urged to plan ahead with heavy rain still falling and several roads and a school already closed.
MetService has issued a heavy rainwarning for Wellington, the Tararuas, Kāpiti and Horowhenua.
Kāpiti Emergency Operations Centre duty controller Paul Busing said a community of about 25 properties has been cut off due to a landslip in Maungakotukutuku Valley.
Busing said a sustained period of rain throughout the early hours of this morning and today has brought wide ranging and localised flooding.
The worst hit areas were the central and southern parts of the district around Waikanae River and Paekakariki, he said.
Contractors had to fish out cars from Riverbank Car Park. Photo / Hutt City Council
Meanwhile Paremata School has closed, as has Block Rd near Melling, and Mantell and Burnham roads in Seatoun have also closed.
Contractors had to fish out cars from the flooded Riverbank Car Park in Lower Hutt earlier today.
Hutt City Council reported all remaining vehicles have been moved to higher ground and the car park will be assessed for opening tomorrow morning following cleaning.
Further road closures include Harcourt Werry Drive in Lower Hutt, Takarau Gore and Maungakotukutuku Rd and Te Kupe Rd in Paraparaumu.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said high tide contributed to flooding in Seatoun this morning.
"It's possible there could have been some drain blockages, but clearly it was raining there heavily enough for a couple of streets to become awash.
"It was a serious enough situation to get Wellington Water contractors out there to dig a temporary drain outlet across the beach."
Wellington Water teams digging a channel for stormwater in Burham St, Seatoun. Photo / Supplied
A local traffic update page reported significant traffic queues around the region as a result of the weather, with heavy surface flooding along State Highway 2.
"Southbound from Trentham down through to Silverstream is very heavy. South into Avalon is the back of the queue for the city and it's very slow all the way from there."
Debbie Wilson was driving from Churton Park to the Hutt and told the Herald the poor conditions came "out of the blue".
"All of a sudden [the road] was just three quarters underwater, and guys were out there digging trying to find the drain."
She said on the whole people were driving safely but some were "a bit cranky" and ignoring the signs to drive slowly.
"Most drivers are being careful about it but there were one or two idiots."
SH2 PETONE, NORTHBOUND - FLOODING - 7:20AM Due to flooding, the left northbound lane is BLOCKED prior to the Dowse Drive off-ramp. Please take extra care and expect DELAYS along this route. ^DL pic.twitter.com/sZZOBezZs2
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Wellington (@WakaKotahiWgtn) December 5, 2021
Between 60 and 90mm of rain was forecast for Wellington this morning while Kāpiti, Horowhenua and the Tararuas were expected to get a whopping 100 to 120mm.
It's expected rain will keep pouring until midnight in the Kāpiti District.
The southerly change came through and dumped more than 25 mm of rain over parts of Wellington in the last hour☔
Take extra care this morning as there may be surface flooding or slips on the road. The Heavy Rain Warning is in force until this afternoon🟠 pic.twitter.com/ltn9Aug3jr
