Photo: Warwick Smith / Manawatu Standard / LDRPalmerston North and Whanganui are the two centres in the Horizons catchment most vulnerable to building damage from flooding, a new study shows. Various tests were run to simulate what would happen to existing flood prevention methods during extreme weather events. While we have done some flood modelling before, this assessment fills the gaps where there was no modelling done previously". Deputy chairperson Fiona Gordon said it is the first flood vulnerability assessment to this level. Scenarios such as a 1-in-100-year flood were run, with temperature and geographical variables being altered in some tests based on climate change predictions.

Source: Stuff February 26, 2026 23:13 UTC