Worst rain for 57 years floods New Zealand city of Napier

Record-breaking rain and flooding has plunged the New Zealand city of Napier into a state of emergency.

The North Island city renowned for its art deco architecture had 242.4mm of rain between 9am on Monday and 9am on Tuesday – its wettest day since 1963 and second-highest ever.

The total included 54mm in one hour between 5-6pm on Monday, the heaviest hour of rain in 25 years.

New Zealanders – like Jacinda Ardern – might not be shocked by earthquakes, but we do get scared | Charlotte Graham-McClay

Read more

The downpour brought landslips and power outages, and trapped people in cars.

Much of the city centre was under water on Tuesday morning, including many businesses, with some resorting to kayaking on streets.

According to the local newspaper Hawke’s Bay Today, dozens of people were rescued from flooded homes and there were fears of contaminated wastewater in the floodwaters.

The concerns prompted the city council to urge that toilet flushing, showering and dishwashing be kept to a minimum.

Radio NZ reported more than 3,000 homes were without power overnight and residents had been panic-buying from supermarkets.

Unfortunately for the Hawke’s Bay area another 50mm of heavy rainfall was forecast for Wednesday.

The emergency management minister, Kiri Allan, was travel to Napier, saying her thoughts were with the community as it readied “to knuckle down for a big clean-up”.