Slips, felled trees and debris continue to be a problem in and around the capital with roads closed and more rain due later in the week.
A slip on Sutherland Crescent, Melrose, Wellington. Photo: Supplied
Wellington City Council chief infrastructure officer Siobhan Procter said 19 people whose houses were affected by slips were still in in temporary accommodation or staying with family and friends.
"That's mostly as a result of houses that have got safety concerns as a result of the slips and are still awaiting inspections and whether they're deemed to be safe to return to or not."
There was still a risk of ground movement until there was a sustained period of dry weather she said, and full geotechnical assessments on some slips had to wait until the soil dried out somewhat. The road near a slip on The Terrace would remain closed for a "few days yet" while the ground was still sodden.
Hopefully rain forecast on Thursday would not be too heavy, Procter said.
Latest data showed there had been about about 670 slips in the seven weeks since 1 July.
SH59 Paekākāriki to Pukerua Bay closed by a slip. Photo: Waka Kotahi NZTA Wellington
Of those, 170 came down between Thursday and Sunday alone.
There were hundreds of retaining walls maintained and renewed by the council
"We've had some significant work under way for the past five years or so which has looked at building or strengthening retaining walls which protect our emergency routes out of the city."
It was a continuation of a programme going on for decades, she said.
On the Kāpiti Coast a slip has closed the coastal road between Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki.
Waka Kotahi says that stretch of road could be out of action for several weeks because the site is highly unstable.
A slip in Brooklyn, one of the 670 landslides in Wellington from 1 July to 22 August 2022. Photo: RNZ / Kent Atkinson
Other large slips in the city were still of concern: Main Road in Tawa, the Pass of Branda, and Southerland Crescent in Melrose.
Elsewhere in the North Island, slips have closed State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge in Northland.
Affected residents left in limbo
One slip in the Wellington suburb of Melrose crushed three parked cars over the weekend.
One of the car's owners, Lee Prebble, said he lost another vehicle to a slip in the same spot five years ago.
Prebble said he had now learnt his lesson about where to park his car, and humour was getting him through.
"We looked back at photos of what happened five years ago and at the time it seemed quite devastating, but this one is certainly a lot more impressive.
"It is a Toyota Caldina though, so they're pretty reliable cars, so maybe we'll be able to ressurect it, who knows."
Prebble said he was concerned about more slips affecting residents around the city, but he was heartened by the outpouring of community support.
A slip on Sutherland Crescent, Melrose, Wellington crushed three cars over the weekend. Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
A slip on the Terrace two weeks ago forced David McLean and his wife out of their home after it took out water and sewerage connections.
The next steps to get the house in working order were as clear as mud, McLean said.
"We're still locked out of our house, and it is a bit like a whack-a-mole trying to find the right person to talk to about things," he said.
McLean had been passed from the council to Wellington Water, and was waiting to hear back from them.
Despite the disruption, he said he was feeling luckier than some.
The same slip had left his neighbour's house teetering on the edge of the bank.
"We're both over it, of course, but equally there's an awful lot of rain, and an awful lot of slips, and there are people that are worse off than us," McLean said.
Councils call for patience ahead of weeks of road repairs
Slips have also plagued the wider Wellington region.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said while the city got off lightly with no damaged homes or evacuations, roads in the area needed a lot of attention.
But Baker said that relied on something council didn't have enough of.
"It's money, everything is based around funding.
"We don't have money set aside for emergency roading, so it comes from another budget, so you're just moving one thing around which means something else doesn't get done."
Porirua City Council had already bumped up roading budgets, but it got chewed up as storms had rolled in thick and fast, Baker said.
Further up the coast, Kāpiti Coast District Council warned there was at least six weeks of repairs and maintenance work ahead.
South Wairarapa has also been hit hard by flooding, and while all roads were now open, they too were facing a big clean up.
Councils have asked residents for patience and understanding while crews do their best to piece roads and hillsides back together.
