Hunterville residents affected by slip return home

Three Hunterville families evacuated from their homes on Thursday following an enormous slip brought on by torrential rain, spent their first nervous evening back in their houses last night.

With the exception of the resident of one home, which has been surrounded by mud and earth up to 2m deep, all had now returned to their homes, Claire Scrimgeour of Rangitikei District Council said today.

She said there had been no further problems overnight.

"We'll continue to monitor the site regularly over the next few days to check for any movements," she said.

Residents of Stewart St on the outskirts of the small northern Manawatu town were evacuated from their homes on Thursday to spend the night with relatives.

The slip stretched about 500m down the hill to the street but concerns that more dirt would fall away at the top of the slip have failed to materialise.

The Wanganui Chronicle today reported it could take about three months for the 4500 cumets of hillside to be moved.

The dirt, or slush, is so sloppy that the possibility of moving it off-site was ruled out by officials yesterday.

Ms Scrimgeour said the dirt would now have to be left to dry -- a process that could take "a few months".

Around the country, rain continued to reap havoc overnight.

A slip blocked the southbound lane on the Masterton side of the Rimutaka Hill overnight and both lanes of SH2 were hit by floods north of Featherston.

In Wellington, a slip closed one northbound lane of SH3 at Horokiwi.

The same spot was also closed last week by a slip.

Ice and snow continue to cause problems in South Island, with several roads closed.

In Wanganui District, hard hit by flooding last week, Transit and council engineers have met to discuss plans for the government-funded bailey bridge to be built to replace the bridge wrecked at Mangamahu last week.

The community has been largely cut off by the destruction of the bridge, but as yet there is no estimate on how long it would take to replace it.

A report on a footbridge into the area is expected on Monday.

- NZPA