Water has been pumped out from two flooded office buildings in Wellington, but the occupants are not yet allowed to return to their offices.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand, who were in charge of draining the basement, left the building at 2.14pm on Friday afternoon.
But because the building switchboard was damaged by the water, the offices were now left without power and the occupants were not able to return.
Tom Mahony, principal at Mahony Horner Lawyers in the Jackson Stone House building, said the building managers did not know how long it would take for electricians to fix the switchboard. The building occupants would not be updated again until Monday.
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NZ Professional Firefighters Union/Supplied
A flooded basement in the JacksonStone & Partners building in central Wellington.
He discovered the flooding when he arrived at work shortly after 4.30am, hoping to go to the gym.
Instead as he opened the roller door to the car park he greeted by waist-deep floodwater filling the basement.
Mahony contacted the building manager and then called emergency services, with firefighters arriving not long after.
The building was evacuated and access barred from mid-morning, he said. “People got the heads up early that we should work from…
