Wet weather everywhere
Parts of Wellington were flooded following heavy rainfall yesterday morning.
One of the worst hit areas was Karori, which received about 13mm of rain between 7am and 8am.
Karori Rd resident Leah Robinson said her children leapt into bed with her, saying they were ‘‘scared of the flooding’’.
‘‘I said, ‘don’t be silly, it’s Karori, it doesn’t flood’.’’
When she looked, she found her garage in water after ‘‘about 20 or 30 minutes of rain’’.
‘‘It was torrential. It just kept getting heavier. Karori Rd was under water. It’s going to be a big clean-up."
Robinson said the flooding was the worst she had experienced in 18 years living in Karori.
Metservice meteorologist Mike Bowe said the amount of rainfall in Karori was significant. ‘‘Six millimetres an hour is what we would call heavy. So it is significant.’’
Bowe said the downpour was not unusual for this time of year, however, and was a result of a front that moved over the region from the south overnight.
Other reports of surface flooding in the capital included people unable to leave their driveways.
Seatoun resident Victoria McGaugh said it was ‘‘just as well’’ it was the holidays, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to get to school due to the flooding.
McGaugh, who lives on Burnham St on the south-eastern part of the Wellington seaside suburb, said the area often flooded after heavy rain, which she thought was due to macrocarpa needle droppings blocking the drains.
‘‘It’s a fairly regularly occurrence because the drains don’t get cleared often enough.
‘‘I get that we’re in a bit of a gully but it is frustrating because we have on-going issues.’’
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said there had been some surface flooding across town, and a couple of drain covers had ‘‘bounced off’’ – that is, been forced upwards by the flooding.
It was a hazard and the council advised people to take extra care on the roads. It had received 11 reports of flooding from Karori.
Four stores were closed at Queensgate Shopping Centre in Lower Hutt due to the wet weather.