August 26th, 2006
A cold front crossing the lower North Island last night, dumped over 70mm (12 hours from midnightto midday) of rain into already rain soaked soil in the region. The rain came as part of a westerly flow, and created havoc throughout the region:

A slip forced a train off the tracks near Kaiwharwhara
Another house, this time in Kilbirnine, was evacuated after a slip
Numerous roads throughout the road were closed due to flooding
This comes on top of significant rainfalls over the past 2 months. Of note is the apparent localisation of the rainfall, with 80mm of rainfall in the lower Hutt Valley, but progressively less rain as you head up the valley (Silverstream 59 mm, and Whitby 39mm). 72mm has been recorded on the hills above the Hutt Valley (Maungaraki)