Waves crash onto the shore as wild weather batters the region. Video / Mark Mitchell / Chris Bishop / NIWA
A home was evacuated in Lower Hutt overnight after a significant slip came down, threatening the property.
The residents have now been allowed back into their home, but have been warned there could be further slips.
The slips follow a day of wild weather in the Wellington region which left a ferry stuck in the harbour for hours, tore part of the wing mirror off a car, and grounded all flights in and out of the city.
Jaime Philips' house was evacuated last night, but she and her family have been allowed back inside today. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Stokes Valley woman Jaime Philips said she was asleep last night when emergency response teams banged on her front door about 11pm and informed her there was a massive slip on her property.
"They said that we had lost a significant amount of the cliff face on the edge of our property," she said.
The family hadn't realised several metres of their property had crumbled away in the dark of the night, though Philips' partner thought he heard something about 7pm.
At least two slips had come down and blocked both lanes of Eastern Hutt Road, one of the main routes for people heading into central Lower Hutt from Stokes Valley.
While the slips were cleared off the road overnight, the road remains closed due to further slip risk.
Philips and her partner and teenager were told they had to evacuate the property until safety assessments could be done in the light of day.
Occupants of the home above the slip in Stokes Valley wave out the window. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The family gathered their two elderly cats and a few belongings and were out of the house about 2am, going to stay with friends.
They were allowed back in today after assessments by engineers, but were told it's likely there could be more land lost.
As it is, they have lost 3-4 metres of the side of their yard, and have written off two vegetable planter boxes that are on the very edge of the slip.
Philips said she felt safe after the assessments, and spoke highly of the emergency response team who were "really empathetic" and understanding of how the family felt as they had to flee their home.
Jaime Philips said there was just a few metres between her house and the edge of the slip. Photo / Supplied
"Today we've gone from crying to laughing back to crying to laughing again," Philips said.
Another house on their street also had a significant slip come away from beneath its decking, but their slip was narrower.
Traffic out of Stokes Valley this morning was dire due to the road closure, with drivers stuck in queues for more than an hour just to leave the suburb.
One house had a slip come down from underneath its deck. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One driver told the Herald he spent an hour in the car just to travel about 500m, and hadn't yet left Stokes Valley.
It is not known yet when the road will be reopened.
Two planter boxes have been written off due to their proximity to the edge of the slip. Photo / Supplied
In Wellington, the main route into the suburb of Wadestown is also cut off, and will likely remain so until early next week.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said about 300 cubic metres of rock and dirt had come down and blocked Lennel Road, and there had been more come down overnight.
It was difficult to estimate how long it would take to clear it, but could be as late as Tuesday next week.
Luckily for residents there were several alternative routes in and out of Wadestown, he said.
The slip on Lennel Road, Wadestown. Photo / Supplied
"It's not like Wadestown's cut off but it's going to be inconvenient," MacLean said.
There have been multiple smaller slips around the region and MacLean urged people to use caution.
"Just be careful because you never know what's going to be around the corner," he said.
Wellington was plunged into weather-related chaos yesterday when a gale-force southerly hit the region.
Flights in and out of the city were grounded, ferry sailings were cancelled and trains to the Hutt Valley were replaced with buses, prompting traffic woes for Thursday evening commuters.
Huge swells battered parts of the Wellington region yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One Bluebridge ferry which departed Wellington in the morning spent hours in the harbour before being guided back to port by a tugboat.
Meanwhile huge swells battered the Hutt suburb of Eastbourne, with waves crashing up over the road and destroying an unoccupied catamaran.
Fallen trees, slips and flooding also added to the disruption of the day, and one car even had part of its wing mirror ripped off by the wind.
