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A school is closed, slips blocked roads and rockslides struck a car after heavy rains in the Wellington region on Thursday morning.
The Paremata school was closed after sewage entered the playground, a staff member said.
The floods had subsided and the rain had subsided around 10:30 a.m. M., But the school remained closed for the students because the toilets were not working.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
Paremata School Principal Bryce Coleman has closed the school due to flooding and sewage on the grounds.
A Porirua City Council spokesperson said teams from Wellington Water, City Hall and Downer were in Plimmerton, Titahi Bay, Elsdon, Cannons Creek and Whitby this morning.
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“Wellington Water cleared debris from the sewers at Plimmerton this morning and installed two large pumps during high tide times. The beach sewer in particular was kept clear, ”he said.
“We have a number of service requests in Titahi Bay, including four sewage spills that are being addressed. There is a swamp on Titahi Bay Rd adjacent to the hockey field that is flooded but is being cleaned up. The tide would have affected him.
“The high tide was at 6 am, so it is not too bad compared to last week,” he said.
The road connecting Upper Hutt to the Kāpiti coast, Akatarawa Rd, has been closed due to slips and a fallen tree.
Kāpiti district council spokeswoman Sue Owens said crews were on their way to clean up the debris.
Motorists were advised to take an alternate route.
Several slips had also closed Paekākāriki Hill Rd, and Downer expects it to be closed for the remainder of the day.
Grays Rd was closed but was expected to open Thursday afternoon depending on the weather, he said.
‘It just smells bad’
Paremata School principal Bryce Coleman said sewage flooded a netball court and an area behind some classrooms.
Flooding had been a problem at the school since the 1950s whenever high tide coincided with heavy rain.
The sewage pumping station across the road would overflow, sending a wave of sewage onto the school grounds. It had happened about four times in the last nine years.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
Paremata School has been closed until further notice after sewage flooded the playground.
“It just smells bad,” Coleman said.
He said the water was a cloudy grayish color, like the water in the sink after washing a lot of dirty dishes. A faint acrid scent wafted around the courts around 11am.
The caretaker had started cleaning, which included disinfecting and flushing the floors.
Cleanup was expected to take around 24 hours.
The school would reopen on Friday, but the affected area would be cordoned off.
Supplied
Emergency services responded to the rockslide on State Highway 1 in Paekākāriki.
Emergency services responded to a rockfall that struck a vehicle at 9:10 am in the southbound lane of State Highway 1 in Paekākāriki.
The road was blocked while contractors swept it, but it has since been cleared. Motorists are advised to expect delays.
Old State Highway 1, the main route north of Kāpiti, was also closed.
Police were also dealing with flooding around Paekākāriki Hill Rd, a spokeswoman said.
The northbound lane of State Highway 2 in Kelson before the Haywards Interchange was closed. Drivers are advised to pass very carefully and prepare to slow down if requested.
A slip on the Johnsonville exit ramp had partially closed the left ground on SH1. The southbound queues were backed up to the exit ramp.
Wellington City Council was also responding to the incidents, although none of them were significant, a spokeswoman said.
These included a pair of blocked sinkholes in Northland, surface flooding in Miramar and Johnsonville, and blocked drains in Tawa.
“All the works have been registered with the contractors, who have been sent to address the problems,” he said.
