By Emma Jolliff
A Wellington couple has been forced to leave their home after heavy rain caused a landslide, and left their house teetering above the slip.
The owners say they have no idea when, or if, they will be allowed back in.
Suze Randal says she and her husband knew something didn't look right when they were driving home late yesterday afternoon.
A huge chunk of her property and council reserve has slipped away onto the road below.
“We've had the house for 26 years and our three children and us have had a wonderfully happy time there and we hope that we will still be able to,” says Mrs Randal.
In pouring rain today contractors spent hours clearing tonnes of dirt from the road below.
“I think it looks sad and obviously it's a concern as to what's going to happen next.”
The Met Service says more than 24 millimetres of rain fell in Wellington in the 24 hours before the slip that was on top of almost a fortnight of wet weather.
“The weather that we've had over the last few weeks has loaded up the ground and unfortunately that's the sort of topography we have around Wellington,” says Mr Randal.
The couple is staying with other family members. Rob Tierney, Wellington Council Building manager, says he’s kept the Randal’s out of the house as a safety precaution.
“It doesn't appear that there's any damage but we'll get safety experts back in before we let anybody back into the house,” says Mr Tierney.
And it's not the first slip the Randal’s have experienced. They say there was a slip in the area two years ago.
Ironically, they've been waiting for the weather to improve so that engineers can finish a retaining wall on the other side of the house.
Now it seems the engineers face a much bigger job.
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