{"id":388517,"date":"2026-04-20T09:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388517\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:45:12","slug":"wellington-flooding-thousands-ordered-to-evacuate-homes-in-new-zealand-capital-after-worst-rainfall-ever-recorded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388517\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellington flooding: Thousands ordered to evacuate homes in New Zealand capital after worst rainfall ever recorded"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wellington<\/a> declared a state of emergency<\/a> on Monday after torrential rainfall battered New Zealand\u2019s capital city overnight. <\/p>\n

Residents of low-lying areas were asked to evacuate as flash floods <\/a>and landslides led to the closure of roads. <\/p>\n

Wellington mayor Andrew Little said he had \u201cnever known anything like\u201d the intense rainfall overnight. He said the city received 77mm of rain in less than an hour, the heaviest on record. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be aware there has been [a] serious downpour in Wellington, particularly in the southern suburbs overnight, very serious flooding in many places,\u201d he said on social media. \u201cA lot of that flooding was the stormwater system being overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of it is dissipating at the moment,\u201d he added, \u201cbut there\u2019s still surface flooding around places.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel. \u201cSo this is a day to be really careful if you\u2019re going out and about. If you can avoid travel, then please do so, but if you have to travel, then be very careful,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Emergency crews have already responded to over 150 weather-related callouts across the region, including flooding inside homes and landslides in suburbs like Newtown, Island Bay, and Kingston.<\/p>\n

\"VehiclesVehicles partially submerged along a flooded road in Wellington (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has activated its regional coordination centre, ramping up the response. <\/p>\n

\u201cFloods and flash floods can happen quickly. If you see rising water, do not wait for official warnings,\u201d said Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not try to walk, play, swim, or drive in floodwater. Do not drive through floodwater. You are putting yourself at risk, and risking the lives of those who come to your rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some areas of the city reportedly received rainfall of up to 22mm in a short burst, with residents describing the deluge as the worst ever. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a serious weather event with ongoing and evolving risks,\u201d said Anita Baker, Wellington Civil Defence Emergency Management Group joint committee chair. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of emergency gives responders the powers and coordination needed to keep people safe, support evacuations where required, and manage impacts across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

A man went missing from the suburb \u200cof Karori, prompting a search in and around the flooded property where he was last found. <\/p>\n

\"SubmergedSubmerged road in Wellington on 20 April 2026 (Reuters)<\/p>\n

The heavy rain warning in Wellington and Wairarapa remains in place until Tuesday night, the local weather department said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the severe downpours over the last few days and the upcoming forecast rainfalls, there is an increased threat to life from dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and slips, with especially hazardous driving conditions,\u201d the meteorologist Katie Lyons said. \u201cSome roads may become impassable, isolating communities.\u201d <\/p>\n

The agency also warned of dangerous seas along Wellington\u2019s south coast. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe intense rainfall over the past few days has caused what is known as pluvial flooding. Cities like Wellington tend to have a high proportion of impermeable surfaces where water can\u2019t soak into the ground. Instead, the water relies on stormwater systems to dissipate. But when the quantity of water is more than a stormwater system can handle, the excess water will follow overland paths to flow towards the sea,\u201d Dr Emily Lane, chief scientist, Flooding, Extreme Weather and Space Hazards, Earth Sciences NZ, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, short and relatively localised but very intense events like those we have seen over the past few days are the type of event expected to increase the most with climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several schools in the region have been closed. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had flooding, slips and evacuations. There\u2019s another big weather system moving in this afternoon, so we need to just stay alert and be prepared,\u201d the mayor said. <\/p>\n

\u201dI\u2019m taking this very seriously, and so is our whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,1414,4998],"class_list":{"0":"post-388517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-social-media","13":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}