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 canceled, 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. So far, no fatalities have been reported.
This series of flash floods comes less than a week after Cyclone Vaianu swept through the North Island last weekend.
Research has shown that climate change has made extreme weather events, including floods, more common and more intense around the world.
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 said in a video published on his Facebook page.
In the suburb of Kingston, a resident reported attempting to escape on the back of a neighbor's motorbike after a landslide buried a nearby road.
Another resident in Mornington claimed that his garden was inundated, making the grass invisible, and described the deluge as creating a river through his yard.
Mark Mitchell, the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, stated they were expecting the worst of the weather later Monday evening.
He urged Wellington residents to prepare for possible evacuations and stay updated with ongoing information.
The emergency management office for the Wellington region advised residents to delay all non-essential travel and consider relocating if they live in low-lying or flood-prone areas. The Wellington City Mission has been set up for those needing shelter.
