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Flooding in South Canterbury and Otago has prompted councils to activate their civil defence emergency operations centres.
Civil defence headquarters in Waimate and Otago were activated as heavy rains hammered the lower part of the South Island.
However, neither of the areas have, as yet, declared a state of emergency.
Waimate District Council spokeswoman Carolyn Johns said the roads around Morven, 34km north east of Oamaru, were extremely dangerous and the township itself had been flooded.
However, the rains were easing and no-one had officially reported losing their electricity or telephone, she said.
The council was advising people to keep off roads in the district, especially after dark.
Further south, flooding closed State Highway 1 between Dunedin and Balclutha, Waikouaiti and Milton and SH83 between Pukeuri and Duntroon.
Environment Canterbury (Ecan) flood control spokesman Philip Lees said the rain was mostly in the northern part of South Canterbury, in the foothills. The rain started falling heavily late last night .
However, the rivers were handling most of the rainfall, and a higher-than-usual high tide had not caused too many problems, he said.
"Farmers in the affected area had time to move their stock from low-lying paddocks," Mr Lees said.
Waimate had suffered some flooding and Ecan measuring equipment had recorded 42mm of rain in four hours.
MetService forecasters said the rain was brought by a moist easterly, and was expected to ease in Canterbury today.
However, rain in Dunedin was expected to continue into the early hours of Tuesday morning, with between 80mm to 120mm expected to fall by tomorrow.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt warned drivers of terrible conditions, with strong winds, heavy rain and poor visibility combining to impair driving conditions.
"This is a large amount of rain for these areas where the July monthly rainfall is normally around 50 to 80mm," he said.
- NZPA
