Auckland residents warned forecast heavy rain could ’cause instability in slips’ caused by floods

Auckland residents are being warned heavy rain is forecast for the region over the next few days.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Auckland Emergency Management’s deputy controller Rachel Kelleher said the forecast rain will no doubt “cause anxiety.”

“We are expecting isolated showers this afternoon [Wednesday] and tomorrow morning followed by showers throughout the region, which could be heavy with low risk of thunderstorms and peak rain rates of about 10 to 15 millimetres per hour,” Kelleher said.

She said the forecast rainfall shouldn’t cause any more flooding.

“This is not expected to cause more flooding but cause instability in slips that already exist throughout the region,” she said. “It remains important that people stay out of cordoned areas, restricted buildings and do not interfere with traffic management signs or barriers.”

She also said emergency services will be ready to help out if the bad weather escalates.

Auckland Council’s head of engineering resilience Ross Roberts said in the press conference on Wednesday that the warm weather recently had helped reduce the amount of water in the soil.

“It’s improved the stability of the ground and is reducing the risk of further landslides,” Roberts said.

He said there are still many existing landslides that are still moving, including some that are located above red-placarded properties.

“Many landslides will continue to move unpredictably after the triggering event. Our work monitoring these landslides is essential to informing decisions we need to make as council and as our society about our next steps,” Roberts said.

At the time of publishing, MetService has not issued any heavy rain warnings or watches for the Auckland region.