Flooding

Latest news

Extreme weather research gets a boost

21 August 2023

NIWA has launched a $5 million per year package of new projects aiming to tackle some of New Zealand’s most pressing challenges, including responding to and preparing for extreme weather events.

New maps reveal places at risk from sea-level rise

Media Release

25 May 2023

New maps from NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge show areas across Aotearoa New Zealand that could be inundated by extreme coastal flooding.

"Exceptional" August atmospheric river sets record

Media Release

25 August 2022

NIWA meteorologists say last week’s atmospheric river (AR), which was responsible for widespread devastation in both the North and South Islands, was a record-breaker.

A Hard Rain’s A’Gonna Fall

Feature story

31 May 2022

Climate change means more intense storm systems are on their way. Science can’t stop it raining, but it can help communities prepare for the worst and plan for the future.

Our work

Forecasting impacts from extreme weather

This research project aims to establish connections between weather and river flow forecasting, inundation prediction, and the associated risks to people and assets, using the RiskScape platform.

Latest videos

Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa

This five-year NIWA-led research programme is developing a system to map flood hazard consistently across the whole country. It will reveal how our flood risk might change over the next 100 years because of changes to rainfall and sea level from climate change, as well as due to land-use changes. Find out more.

2017 Annual Climate Summary 9 January 2018

Edgecumbe flood damage

NIWA and GNS scientists recently visited Edgecumbe to assess flood damage in the area. In this video, local residents show the flood impacts on property, and hazards engineer Kate Crowley talks about flood scenario research.

Learning Support #4: Applying the learning - reimagining the town’s response

Rethinking the way we adapt to climate change and flooding.

Learning support #3: Climate change and floods - values, perspectives and decision-making

How does exploring different perspectives shape the decisions that are made about how we adapt to climate change?

Forecasting impacts from extreme weather

This research project aims to establish connections between weather and river flow forecasting, inundation prediction, and the associated risks to people and assets, using the RiskScape platform.

Extreme weather research gets a boost

Media Release

21 August 2023

NIWA has launched a $5 million per year package of new projects aiming to tackle some of New Zealand’s most pressing challenges, including responding to and preparing for extreme weather events.

New maps reveal places at risk from sea-level rise

Media Release

25 May 2023

New maps from NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge show areas across Aotearoa New Zealand that could be inundated by extreme coastal flooding.

Extreme coastal flood maps for Aotearoa New Zealand

Decisions about how we adapt to sea-level rise need to be based on information about our exposure to coastal flooding, both now and in the future after a period of rising sea levels.

Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa

Storm-tide red-alert days 2023

Storm-tide red alerts are the highest high tide (also known as king tides) dates that Emergency Managers and Coastal Hazard Managers should write in their diaries and keep an eye on adverse weather (low barometric pressure, onshore winds), river levels and sea conditions (waves and swell). This page shows the 2023 dates of the highest high-tide "red alert" dates, and the lowest high-tide dates.

"Exceptional" August atmospheric river sets record

Media Release

25 August 2022

NIWA meteorologists say last week’s atmospheric river (AR), which was responsible for widespread devastation in both the North and South Islands, was a record-breaker.

A Hard Rain’s A’Gonna Fall

Feature story

31 May 2022

Climate change means more intense storm systems are on their way. Science can’t stop it raining, but it can help communities prepare for the worst and plan for the future.

Public asked to help build national flood photo database

Media Release

15 February 2022

NIWA is asking people in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk.

Coastal flooding likely to be main driver for adaptation

Media Release

12 October 2021

New NIWA-led research shows increasing flood risk is going to be what leads people to make changes to adapt to sea-level rise.

The largest flood flow ever measured

Media Release

29 July 2021

Flood flows on the Buller River this month were the largest of any river in Aotearoa New Zealand in almost 100 years, NIWA measurements show.

NIWA calculates 1:200 year flood for parts of Canterbury

Media Release

14 June 2021

Preliminary analysis by NIWA climate scientists has shown that the recent Canterbury rainfall was so extreme in some inland places that it could be expected to happen only once every 200 years.

Field teams and forecasters cover monumental rainfall event

Feature story

9 June 2021

The prodigious rainmaker that hit Canterbury earlier this month saw NIWA field teams out in the elements collecting flood data from bridges, cableways and jetboat gaugings.

Mā te haumaru ō ngā puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mō ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa

Small sea-level rises to drive more intense flooding, say scientists

Media Release

14 April 2020

A little can mean a lot – especially when it comes to the relationship between sea level rise and coastal flooding.

New reports highlight flood risk under climate change

Media Release

21 August 2019

Two reports released today by NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge reveal new information about how many New Zealanders, how many buildings and how much infrastructure could be affected by extreme river and coastal flooding from storms and sea-level rise.

New Zealand to have world-leading hazard risk modelling tool

Media Release

1 August 2019

EQC, GNS Science and NIWA have joined forces to further develop world-leading natural hazards risk modelling for New Zealand.

Solutions: Early warning of PNG floods

Feature story

16 October 2018

NIWA has completed a project that aims to help build community resilience against flooding in the Bumbu River and contribute to improving Papua New Guinea’s disaster preparedness in the face of increasing climate-related disasters.

2017 Annual Climate Summary 9 January 2018

Joining the flooded dots

Feature story

8 October 2017

The term “joined-up government” was coined in the late 1990s to describe the coordination modern governments need to deal with large problems.

Flood focus

Feature story

8 October 2017

Autumn and winter rain caused damaging floods and slips across New Zealand, yet again. Susan Pepperell investigates the nation's evolving skill in avoiding and coping with water.

Calculated risk

Feature story

13 June 2017

Imagine if you could foresee what would happen to your home in a severe flood or tsunami, and then work out how to prevent or reduce the impact before any such event occurred.

Floods

River floods occur when water spills from a river channel onto land that is normally dry, and are one of New Zealand's costliest natural hazards.

Flooding

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