Dunedin weather: Flood fears ease as river levels fall

Dozens of people evacuated from their homes in Dunedin because of flood risk were allowed home as rain eased overnight and river levels fell.

Thirty-five properties, mostly student flats, were emptied because of their proximity to Ōwheo, the Water of Leith, which turned from a trickle to a raging torrent amid heavy rain.

One student who had to leave her flat said she and others would spend the night with friends or relatives. Before leaving, she moved her belongings as high as she could including stacking books on her bed.

Several patients from Otago Community Hospice were moved to Mercy Hospital on high ground, because the hospice is near Lindsay Creek in North East Valley.

An evacuation centre was open overnight at Dunedin North Intermediate School and the city council said a small number of people went there seeking support or a place to stay.

The city's emergency operations centre also stayed open to keep a watch on the rivers and streams.

Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins said rain had eased overnight and water levels fell in Ōwheo, the Water of Leith, and Lindsay Creek.

There were no further evacuations overnight and it was safe for those who were moved from their homes to return, Hawkins told First Up.

North Otago was drenched with another 90mm of rain overnight but there were no reports of serious flooding, while a heavy rain warning was still in place for Dunedin through to 10am.

"We're expecting a bit more rain over the day ... and we're keeping a watching brief on some of those rivers in outlying townships in particular, but overnight we seem to have dodged a bullet," Hawkins said.

However, MetService has extended the heavy rain warning until 3pm today with up to 20 millimetres more rainfall expected in North Otago and Dunedin.

A council spokesperson said the city's infrastructure appeared to have coped well so far with the heavy rain despite damage to local roads.

The council was responding to about 120 reports of slips, trees down and localised flooding.

By lunchtime there were 27 road closures across the city, including a significant amount of shoulder damage and potholes, and flooding around Coast Road to Karitane.

Dunedin City councillor and farmer Mike Lord, said there hadn't been as much rain south of the city as in Dunedin. The Taieri River was on the rise and there could still be flooding on low-lying farmland, but generally the flood protection systems were coping well.

State Highway 1 closures

State Highway 1 from Palmerston to Dunedin was closed due to flooding on Wednesday morning, and further north, SH82 Waihao Downs to Waimate and SH1 Glenavy to St Andrews were also closed.

Waimate District mayor Craig Rowley said with the main road into Waimate closed, and a lot of surface flooding throughout the district, the town was isolated until the water receded.

There had been no evacuations, he said, and he expected floodwater to start draining from the roads later in the day as the weather improved.

Waka Kotahi's Mark Owen said access to dozens of roads across Canterbury and Otago remained heavily restricted or closed.

"It's fragile, and we just ask people to take a bit of extra care and just be mindful that there's pretty unique weather right across New Zealand so plan before you go - make sure our route you're travelling is open and certainly have a contingency plan if routes do close."

Waitaki District

A conserve water notice has been issues for a Waitaki district water supply due to the flooding.

The notice is in place for the Waihemo water supplies and affects people in Palmerston, Dunback and Goodwood.

Waitaki District Council said the Shag River was running high and dirty and the supply pumps were currently turned off.

The council urged Palmerston residents to be vigilant as most did not have storage tanks and they needed to make reservoir space last as long as possible.

There are more than 30 roads closed and more than 10 under caution.

Roads were still closed because of flooding, mainly in the Corriedale ward, Waitaki District Council road manager Mike Harrison said.

There could be more slips on to roads and rock falls were possible because the ground was so wet, he said.

"This rainfall coming through is continuous, the ground is very very saturated already.

"We can't guarantee what's out there - we've got 1800 kilometres of roads it's going to take us quite a while to check everything and we need the water levels to start dropping for that."

However the danger of flooding from the swollen Kakanui River, near Oamaru, appeared to have passed, he said.

Later in the day the council said it has been receiving multiple calls from people in the area about flooding and slips.

A council spokesperson said it has 34 roads closed and 13 under caution across Waitaki and council crews were out on the network inspecting.

MetService meteorologist John Law said the weather system over the area for the last 24 hours was on its way out, and the rain would clear during the day.

Another area of low pressure was on the way from the north on Thursday and Friday, bringing rain to Northland, Auckland and Bay of Plenty.