New Zealand has declared a state of emergency in its capital city Wellington as torrential rain and flash flooding drenched the country's North Island. Footage online shows vehicles submerged, trees uprooted, and houses hit by landslides. Wellington received a record 77mm (3in) of rain in less than an hour on Monday, said Mayor Andrew Little. Local authorities advised residents to hunker down, with rain forecast for the next day and a half. Some flights at Wellington Airport have been cancelled and several schools have shut their campuses. More than a dozen people have been evacuated, while a 60-year-old man in the Karori suburb has been reported missing. No fatalities have been reported so far. This series of flash floods comes less than a week after Cyclone Vaianu swept through the North Island last weekend. Research over the years has shown that climate change has made extreme weather events, including floods, more common and intense around the world. 'The wild weather continues. We've had flooding, slips, and evacuations... The flooding has been strong enough to move cars, and many manhole covers have been lifted,' Little said in a video published on his Facebook page. In the suburb of Kingston, a resident described trying to escape on the back of a neighbor's motorbike after a landslide buried a nearby road early Monday. Another resident in the suburb of Mornington reported that his garden had been 'inundated with water,' having turned into a stream. Mark Mitchell, the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, advised residents to be prepared as the 'worst of the weather' was expected later in the evening. 'If you are in the Wellington region, be prepared,' he said. Assistance is being coordinated through the Wellington City Mission for individuals needing shelter.