"Arm in Arm": The Human Stories Behind Wellington’s Catastrophic Deluge

From floating fridges to caved-in walls, Wellington residents share harrowing accounts of the April 2026 storm. Read the stories from Mount Cook, Brooklyn, and Ōwhiro Bay.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 20, 2026, 5:18 AM EDT

Source: RNZ Pacific

Mount Cook: The Bedroom Inundation

For Mik Breitenbach and her three flatmates, the nightmare began with a sound. "I woke up to gurgling sounds inside my bedroom," she told RNZ. Stepping out of bed, she found herself in 10cm of rising water seeping through the floorboards.

The group was forced to evacuate out the back of the house as the front was blocked by a meter of gushing water. "We headed out... with our arms interlocked as it was just gushing past us. I feel like if one of us had fallen, we would all probably go down." The flatmates, who had prepared "go bags" for Cyclone Vaianu earlier this month, are now staying with partners while they assess the mud and silt left behind.

Brooklyn: When the Walls Cave In

In Brooklyn, CJ Kochar described waking up to his "worst nightmare" at 5 AM. A landslide on Ōwhiro Road caused the back wall of his bedroom to cave in and the roof to collapse. While the front of the house remained intact, the entire street was transformed into a river. Kochar, who has contents insurance, is currently working with his landlord to find alternative accommodation.

Further along the street, Carlton Ruffell watched as a creek restoration site became a casualty of the storm. "The water got higher and higher until it covered a digger sitting in the creek," he said. His neighbors were forced to spend the night in his lounge after a slip pushed a shed into their car.