Lower Hutt Mayor Ken Laban says residents should stay home tonight if they can, as wild weather batters the Wellington region.
Laban said there was surface flooding, strewn debris, and fallen trees in several parts of the city, including along Marine Drive to Eastbourne and parts of Wainuiomata.
Laban urged people to take care tonight.
"Just to avoid unnecessary travel and, even though it can be good fun for the young ones, not to drive through the flood water, stay away from the slips, just be conscious about the uncertainty of the weather at the moment."
The wild weather has led to hundreds of flights being cancelled and power being cut to thousands of people in central parts of New Zealand.
Severe weather warnings and watches are in place across the country today amid wind, rain, snow and heavy swells.
Wind gusts of up to 150kmh have been recorded in Wellington and the region remains under heavy rain and wind warnings.
MetService this evening warned that the wild weather wasn't over yet.
Meteorologist John Law said damaging winds heavy rain would lash the region into tonight.
He said severe weather warnings remained until 9pm, with strong gusts expected through to tomorrow morning.
Another 60-90mm of rain could still fall in parts of Wellington and southern Wairarapa.
"Gusts of wind still to around about 120 kilometres an hour out towards places like Kelburn and around towards the airport way, so it stays very windy and we're going to keep hold of those severe weather warnings, as we head into the evening as well."
Meterologist Braydon White earlier said the rain was not expected to reach the intense amounts that caused flash flooding in Wellington recently, but it would fill up rivers and leave soil sodden, which could lead to slips or downed trees.
Flights hit
In an update late this afternoon Wellington Airport said most flights today had been cancelled, including scheduled flights this evening.
It said in total about 200 flights would be cancelled.
The winds are forecast to ease tomorrow which hopefully will allow flights to resume.
Passengers should check with their airlines for information on specific flights.
Air New Zealand's chief operations officer, ground and inflight, Kate Boyer earlier said strong winds were impacting the capital, with gusts exceeding 50 knots.
"As a result, we have cancelled a number of domestic flights in and out of Wellington. Our teams are closely monitoring the conditions and will only operate flights when it is safe to do so.
"Since yesterday, we have been offering added flexibility for customers travelling to or from Wellington, allowing them to proactively change their flights free of charge."
Passengers travelling today should check the Air New Zealand app or website for the latest information on their flight, she said. Flights in Auckland have also been affected.
Meanwhile, strong winds are also battering Taranaki and a stretch of State Highway 3 at Waitara was closed between Princess St and Nelson St due to fallen trees blocking the road. A detour was in place.
Fire and Emergency NZ responded to calls of trees coming down and damage to roofs in the area overnight. A strong wind warning remained in place for Taranaki until 4pm.
Dangerous swells affecting transport
The stormy conditions are affecting the Wellington motorway. Water and spray from the harbour is spilling on to State Highway 1 and the left-hand lanes have been closed this afternoon.
The big swells and windy conditions were making conditions rough and many Cook Strait ferry sailings have been cancelled today and tomorrow.
The Interislander advised its Friday 3.30am and 3.30pm sailings between Wellington and Picton, and the 9.30am and 9.30pm sailings between Picton and Wellington have been cancelled.
The 3.30am sailing from Wellington to Picton and 9.30am trip from Picton to Wellington on Saturday would be freight only.
Affected passengers were being contacted directly and moved to alternative sailings or given a refund.
Bluebridge has also cancelled sailings for today and Saturday.
They are: the 2am, 8.15am, 1.30pm and 8.30pm trip between Wellington and Picton and the 2.30am, 7.45am, 2pm and 7.15pm journey from Picton to the capital.
Saturday's 2:30am sailing from Picton to Wellington is cancelled.
Power out for thousands
Wellington Electricity this evening warned customers to be prepared for further power cuts over the next few hours, as winds were yet to peak.
As at 5.10pm about 4000 customers across the Wellington region were still without power,
Wellington Electricity chief executive Greg Skelton said there were several faults on Wellington’s high-voltage network and about 200 faults on individual premises that it was currently aware of.
“Many customers who are at work may not yet know their power is off at home and, with the wind speeds forecast to peak over the next few hours, there may be further outages.
Skelton said it could take two or three days and even into mid next week to restore power to all customers.
It was earlier reported that there were about 4000 customers are without power in Taranaki and 1200 in Manawatu.
South Island highways reopen
In the South Island, State Highway 73 between Springfield and Arthur’s Pass Village and SH8 between Lake Tekapo and Twizel in the Mackenzie Country have reopened after closures early this morning due to snow and ice. Danseys Pass in Central Otago remains closed.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
