Wellington weather: Landslide crushes Wellington home while tenants sleep, caves in two bedrooms and a bathroom

Properties in Wellington have been seriously damaged by flooding and landslips as record rainfall lashes the capital.

A landslide has crushed part of a two-storey Brooklyn house, leaving its tenants worried they will have to live elsewhere.

At about 5am, C.J. Koshar was sleeping in his bedroom when he heard a loud rumbling noise coming from the roof.

“Suddenly, a few seconds later, I saw that the cracks are coming out of the wall and the whole wall came out,” he told the Herald.

In a panic, he tried to push his hands against the wall to hold it up, before realising it was futile and rushing to save his belongings instead.

Koshar rents a room in a large two-storey house on Ohiro Rd, where his room, another bedroom and a bathroom have been destroyed by a landslide.

The house is built up against a bank which collapsed into the building, tearing down walls and breaking furniture.

C.J. Koshar's room in Ohiro Rd, Brooklyn was caved in by a landslide, caused by severe rainfall in the capital. Photo / NZME

Koshar said he never could have predicted something like this would happen when he left central Wellington and moved to Brooklyn in December.

In fact, nothing like this had ever happened to him in the 10 years he had lived in New Zealand, he said.

“Nothing is in our hands, we cannot control anything.”

The bathroom in C.J. Koshar's flat had also been partially destroyed by the landslide. Photo / NZME

He and his flatmates had moved their belongings to the front of the house, where they were planning on sleeping.

Firefighters visited the house earlier in the morning and Koshar’s landlord had also been in contact.

The tenants were waiting for emergency services to confirm whether their house was safe to live in.

In the meantime, Koshar said his friends had offered to help him find a place to stay.

Down the street, fellow Ohiro Rd residents Harry Polaco and Walmer Polania were forced to evacuate their flat at 4am after it was inundated with floodwater.

The house of brothers Harry Polaco and Walmer Polania in Ohiro Rd, Wellington after it was flooded. Photo / Marty Melville

Polaco said he was awoken by his father to water at waist level in the property rushing in from the hillside above.

“It was pretty scary,” he said.

“The flood[water] was coming up, we wanted to get out from the main door but we couldn’t open it because the pressure.”

The brothers were forced to smash windows to alleviate the pressure, climbing on to the roof to escape.

“We couldn’t walk through here, we were trying to get out in the car but it looked like a river, the street looked like a river,” Polaco said.

“Thank God we came out and our neighbours just helped us stay for a couple time to warm up.”

Mud and debris have filled the property, destroying the brother’s belongings.

“Me and my brother just moved in this year and our furniture is all gone.”

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.