[ad_1]
Supplied
The lake nearly submerged the wool floor at Stansborough Farm in the Kaiwhata Valley, Carterton.
Residents of a flood-affected Carterton community are able to return home after more than a week of absence.
Kaiwhata Rd, in the eastern coastal hills of the district, remains closed but four families can return to their properties.
Two houses upstream and two downstream from the landslide were cut off after month-long November rain fell on Wairarapa in 12 hours last week.
The downpour triggered another landslide, creating a dam and diverting the Kaiwhata River and forcing the closure of Kaiwhata Rd.
READ MORE:
* The remote valley of Wairarapa still underwater as the rain returns
* Seafood Sewage Contamination Warning for Hawke’s Bay After Flooding
* Fear the dust and silt from flooding in downtown Napier that damages businesses
Carrie Mckenzie of the Carterton District Council said modeling by GNS, the Crown Research Institute dedicated to geology, showed that the two downstream houses are no longer at risk if the dam fails.
“I met with the affected residents today and was able to give the residents of the two houses the good news that they can return to their homes.”
Mckenzie said there is still a risk of the dam failure, so the road remains closed to the public.
Last year, a massive landslide blocked the Kaiwhata River between Te Wharau and Homewood.
Mckenzie said that GNS and the Greater Wellington Regional Council will work on future plans for the Kaiwhata area.
The floods were part of the heavy rains on the east coast of the North Island.
Further north, hundreds of Hawke’s Bay residents remain homeless after the heaviest rains since 1963.
