Wellington Storm Recovery

In August 2022, Wellington recorded its wettest month since records began in 1928. Days of rain saturated the city’s hillsides, triggering landslips across steep residential suburbs. Gardens were lost, foundations were undermined, and many homes were red- or yellow-stickered because of slope instability.

Steep ground is what makes Wellington recovery work different. The same slope that gives a hill suburb its views can become the failure surface in a storm. Once movement has occurred, the site may be too steep, unstable or unsafe to assess fully on foot.

Cook Costello mobilised a geotechnical team to support recovery efforts in the weeks and months that followed. Our work included:

• Assessment of difficult sites: On sites too steep or unstable to access safely, we combined careful site inspection with remote survey methods to understand the extent and nature of the slip.

• Slope interpretation: Each property required an assessment of what had failed, why it had failed, the likelihood of further movement occurring, and what could realistically be repaired or rebuilt on steep ground.

• Investigation, design and review: For homes requiring stabilisation or new retaining structures, we carried out ground investigations, designed remedial works and provided construction review on sites where access and buildability were major constraints.

• Responsive recovery support: More than 40 properties were assessed for insurers, claim providers and private owners, with work coordinated to help claims progress while maintaining technical review and quality control.

Our assessments helped insurers and homeowners understand the damage, progress claims and identify suitable repair pathways. Where stabilisation or retaining works were required, our design and construction-phase support helped properties move from emergency response toward long-term recovery.

The Wellington storm recovery work demonstrates Cook Costello’s ability to respond quickly to natural hazard events, assess complex slope damage and provide expert engineering advice on steep, high-consequence residential sites.