Homes evacuated after heavy rain in Wellington overnight

It has been another night of superficial flooding and heavy rain in the capital city.

At least two houses in the Wellington region had to be evacuated last night, as a precautionary measure, after a slip and surface flooding surrounded their houses.

The two affected properties were in the Porirua suburb of Whitby.

Previously, owners of some commercial properties were busy placing sandbags in an attempt to protect their facilities as water levels rose.

The area had about 60mm of rain between 8pm and 1am

Fire and Emergency said it received about 21 weather-related calls in the region between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. today.

Most of the calls were related to surface flooding and downed trees. However, no homes were compromised, a spokesperson said.

Whitby, Tawa, Hutt Valley and the eastern side of the Miramar Peninsula have been hit the hardest.

MetService forecasts that the rain will clear up in the capital by lunchtime. But the southern gales will continue until this afternoon.