Some South Dunedin residents have been ordered to leave their homes because of contamination from sewage in this week's floods.
View a gallery of photos of south Dunedin on Wednesday and Thursday:
About 175 millimetres of rain fell across the city in 24 hours, in what was a one-in-100 year flood event.
South Dunedin was the hardest hit and council staff have so far carried out more than 150 housing inspections in the area.
Local MP Clare Curran said her office had been inundated with calls.
"People in Dunedin are pretty stoic, but if they've got kids if they're elderly and after a few days they run out of food and their houses are cold and they haven't got any heating and their clothes are all wet, things get a bit desperate so it is important that they ask for help."
Ms Curran said she was worried about how people were going to fare as winter got colder.
Clean-up may take 'some time'
Civil Defence authorities say the flooding in the city has caused extensive damage and the clean-up may take some time.
The severity of the floods has become apparent today as locals began sifting through the sodden debris, and dealing with water-damaged houses.
At a news conference this afternoon, the local Civil defence manager, Ruth Stokes, said teams of volunteers have been busy across the city.
"We've had six teams of volunteers out on the streets in south Dunedin today, and we've been working very closely with the Red Cross. We have responded to 45 requests for assistance from households and businesses which has ranged to everything from clearing yards to ripping up carpets et cetera."
Civil Defence controller at the South Dunedin Welfare Centre Simon Pickford said it was the second day they had been operating and they were still very busy.