Source: Radio New Zealand
Flooding at Island Bay Bowling Club on Monday. RNZ / Anya Fielding
People living in flood-prone areas of the greater Wellington region should leave their homes for the next 24 hours.
Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) public information manager Liam Hyslop said the advice applied to people living in parts of Wairarapa, Hutt Valley, Kāpiti and Wellington that had previously flooded.
“It’s people who have experienced quite a number of floods in recent years. So it’s not that you had a flood on the weekend or you’ve had a bit of surface flooding, it’s people who know they’ve had multiple floods over multiple years and they’re in a flood prone area,” he said.
A landslide on Balfour St on Monday morning. RNZ / Mark Papalii
“So that includes also areas of the Heart Valley around the Waiwhetu stream particularly, places that we saw flooding in February and have flooded multiple times in the past.”
Hyslop said the warning affected hundreds of people and WREMO was not expecting entire suburbs to move out.
“Those people will most likely know where they are and have experienced floods before. It’s not entire suburbs, its just generally related to either a number of streets or even individual properties,” he said.
Hyslop said WREMO declared a regional state of emergency because of the risk of flooding on Monday and Tuesday.
A car submerged in the river mouth where the stream flows onto the beach in Ōwhiro Bay. Tess O’Connor
“We know there’s going to be a large amount of rain over quite a long period of time. It’s going to be a sustained, slow-moving weather event and what that does is create flooding risks, not only for surface flooding, but also for river and stream flooding and that’s the flooding which can impact large numbers of properties should that occur.
“So the regional state of emergency just gives us the powers to be able to exercise mandatory evacuations as needed, as well as restricting areas, unsafe areas and that sort of thing.”
Hyslop said people should be aware of their surroundings and the risks around their property.
“If they encounter floodwaters, they should never attempt to drive, walk, or swim through any flood water because you just don’t know what is lying underneath,” he said.
Hyslop said WREMO had not set up shelters for people who needed to move out of their homes, but local councils and other organisations might do so.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
