Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Scores of callouts after Wellington region floods

Updated at 8:35 am on 5 February 2013

Flooding around Wellington on Monday night prompted 67 callouts to the Fire Service as rain water washed into houses.

Another 40 calls had to be diverted to local councils.

The calls came in between 8pm and 10.30pm, with central area shift manager Murray Dunbar saying most of them were about water flooding into houses.

Mr Dunbar says hard ground from long, dry periods meant that water could not be absorbed into the earth and rose quickly to form large puddles which lapped into homes.

Flooding or slips closed the main roads linking the Hutt Valley with Porirua and the Kapiti Coast, but have since reopened.

The Rimutaka Hill Road linking Wellington and Wairarapa has been affected by slips, but remains open.

Meanwhile, the rain is easing in Wellington. The MetService says the worst of the weather is moving north towards the central North Island, but will spare the upper North Island on Tuesday.

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