As of 10.30am Tuesday, April 21, the Wellington region remains in a state of emergency with orange rain warnings in place for Wellington, Wairarapa and the Tararua District. Heavy rain continues to pose a real threat to the lower North Island as the ground is still saturated from damaging thunderstorms over the past 48 hours.

According to professor of physical geography at Victoria University of Wellington, James Renwick, Pōneke has seen, “a level of rainfall that … would be extreme even in the tropics.” He also says, “We are again seeing the effects of adding moisture to the air, which happens as that air warms.”

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