Working Men's Club in Petone flooded after heavy Wellington rain
Sunday, 8 July 2018
While Wellington City has come out mostly unscathed from Sunday night's deluge, nearby Petone hasn't been so lucky.
The Petone Working Men's Club on Ury St was flooded just after 8pm, with a series of photos showing the extensive damage.
'The club will be shut over the next few days. We've been flooded and we will need time to clean up,' a post on the club's Facebook said.
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said staff had been called out to the scene but as of 9.30pm had left with a number of other callouts requiring their attention.
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The club was expected to remain closed for the next few days.
Police received more than 40 weather- related callouts on Sunday as wind and rain whipped through the greater Wellington region.
Most calls related to Kāpiti Coast and the Rimutaka Hill Road, a spokesperson said with surface flooding, uprooted trees and minor slips reported.
Paekākāriki Hill Road closed briefly after a pine tree fell and blocked two lanes.
Earlier in the day, MetService meteorologist April Clark said there would be severe north to northwesterlies up to 140kmh in the capital.
A severe thunderstorm warning was in place for the region until midday on Monday.
The Hutt River had been steadily rising, and Block Rd in Lower Hutt was closed on Sunday morning by NZTA due to the river levels.
A spokesperson for Hutt City Council said the road would be reassessed after high tide at 7pm on Sunday, however with more rain forecast, it looked likely the road would remain closed until Monday morning.
'The Hutt River will be monitored closely overnight [and] there may be the usual surface flooding in other areas of the city so drivers should take extra care on the roads today and tonight.'
State Highway 2 remained open.
However, the southbound section of the highway was flooding near the Petone on-ramp at about 5.30pm. Drivers were advised to take extra care.
In the south Taranaki town of Eltham, the wind brought down a tree on to a car on Sunday afternoon.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called to the scene on Mountain Rd at 12.22pm, a police spokesperson said.
'A tree fell down and hit a car as it was going past,' she said. All occupants were out of the vehicle, with some possibly sustaining minor injuries.
When the front hit the region, heavy rain was likely to follow, she said.
'We'll probably get a burst of heavy rain … we're expecting that rain to get more heavy as that front passes over.'
Similar conditions were forecast in the Taranaki region as the same front passed over, she said.
'We're expecting those winds to pick up to 100kmh.'
Wellington and Wairarapa would claim the strongest winds - up to 140kmh in the most exposed places - and a strong wind warning has been issued.
In the Manawatu, those winds were not as strong, and the region had only a 'strong wind watch' in place. .
Clark said winds were expected to ease off in the lower North Island early on Sunday evening.
Monday's forecast looked similar, but would likely feature more 'on and off' rain, she said.
'We will have strong wind in exposed places but it will be not as strong as today. It will be more showery weather tomorrow.'
By Tuesday, that would ease off as the wind turned into a southwesterly, she said.
A fire communications spokesman said there were no serious incidents the service attended that were weather-related on Sunday.
They attended about six minor call-outs in the Wellington region, attending to reports of fences blowing over, and loose roof iron, he said.
Heavy rain warnings were issued for Westland, Buller, Nelson, the north and west of Marlborough, the Tararua Range and Mount Taranaki.
In addition, strong wind warnings were in place for the Canterbury High Country, inland Marlborough and the Sounds, Wellington, southern Wairarapa, Taranaki, Whanganui and Taihape.