New Zealand has declared a state of emergency in its capital city Wellington as torrential rain and flash flooding drenched the country's North Island.
Footage online shows vehicles submerged, trees uprooted, and houses hit by landslides. Wellington received a record 77mm (3in) of rain in less than an hour on Monday, said mayor Andrew Little.
Local authorities advised residents to hunker down, with rain forecast for the next day and a half. Some flights at Wellington Airport have been cancelled, and several schools have shut their campuses.
More than a dozen people have been evacuated, while a 60-year-old man in the Karori suburb has been reported missing. No fatalities have been reported so far.
This series of flash floods comes less than a week after Cyclone Vaianu swept through the North Island last weekend, highlighting the drastic weather changes affecting the region.
Research has shown that climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of extreme weather events around the globe. The wild weather continues. We've had flooding, slips, and evacuations... The flooding has been strong enough to move cars, and many manhole covers have been lifted, Little stated in a video published on his Facebook page.
In the suburb of Kingston, a resident described trying to escape on the back of a motorbike after a landslide buried a nearby road early Monday. Another resident in Mornington noted that his garden had become inundated with water, creating a river-like flow.
Mark Mitchell, the minister for emergency management and recovery, warned that the worst of the weather was still expected later on Monday evening. He urged residents in the Wellington region to be prepared and to consider early evacuation if necessary.
The emergency management office for the Wellington region has advised residents to avoid all non-essential travel and consider relocating to safer areas for at least the next 24 hours. The Wellington City Mission has been set up to provide shelter for those in need.
