The Waikare Gorge bridge was one of many Hawke's Bay bridges destroyed during the Cyclone Gabrielle floods in 2023. Photo / NZME

The research ranked Taranaki as the least flood-exposed region, where about 8% of people would be impacted by flooding in a one-in-100-year rainfall event (or a flood with a 1% annual exceedance probability).

Comparatively, the West Coast is easily the most flood-exposed region, where 34.4% of the population would be exposed to flooding in a one-in-100-year rainfall event under the current climate.

The West Coast is followed by Nelson where 24.3% of the population would be impact