Fiona Cadogan, Chad Ralston and their two children returned to their St Leonards home alongside 1News after being evacuated on Friday. Video / TVNZ
Nine homes in Dunedin red-stickered after heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding and landslips.
MetService has lifted all weather warnings for Otago, Dunedin, and coastal Clutha as the widespread heavy rain has mostly subsided.
State Highway 1 has reopened, but many local roads remain closed; cleanup efforts continue as Dunedin moves into recovery.
South Dunedin residents face the daunting task of returning to their flooded homes after experiencing the heaviest downpour in living memory.
Mayor Jules Radich declared a red-level state of emergency by Thursday evening and nine homes were red-stickered today with more possible over the coming days.
Residents are now returning to assess the damage in the homes they were forced to evacuate as water levels rose dangerously.
Flooding in Churchill Street where water is at knee depth in some parts with residents planning to evacuate after sandbagging their homes. Photo: RNZ/Tess Brunton
Ian lamented the impact on their home, which had just been renovated after the previous flood. “It’s all ruined again,” he said.
The couple is grateful for the kindness of the Red Cross workers at St Clair who provided food, blankets and breakfasts for families and pets alike.
“It happens, but you can’t do much about it. You can’t stop the water.”
After their St Kilda home was flooded, Peter and Sasha Forester spent the night in their car with their four pets and son. Photo / George Heard
Peter and Sasha Forrester, also residents of St Kilda, faced a challenging decision in the early hours of Thursday morning as floodwaters began to rise in their home.
They evacuated to the welfare centre at the St Clair Golf Club at 2:30 am. “The water was coming up our bathroom floor and into the hallway,” Peter said.
“It was causing quite a bit of damage down there.”
South Dunedin residents on Forbury Road rushing to sandbag a house with rising floodwater. Photo / George Heard
Their son, who has autism, was anxious and did not want to sleep in the welfare centre, leading the family to spend the night in their car with their two cats and two dogs.
“The next step is to try and see what help we can get with accommodation,” Peter said.
On Saturday morning, a Dunedin resident who asked not to be named was clearing sandbags from their parents’ South Dunedin property.
“Once you’ve done the basics, it’s just about riding it out and helping out with the people.”
Flooding in South Dunedin. Photo / George Heard
He said the water just approached the home’s front door but fortunately did not get inside.
“The biggest problem early on was cars driving through, which created more waves,” he said.
“We started sandbagging on Friday morning to stop the surges from crashing into the house... The neighbours have been fantastic. They’ve been keeping an eye on things and checking in every couple of hours.”
On Saturday morning, Carl Aiau was clearing debris from the roadside. He also took issue with the cars pushing water onto properties.
A slip came down on State Highway 88 on the road out to Ravensbourne. Photo / George Heard
“Sometimes you’d see someone going pretty quick, but the police were patrolling heavily later in the day... It didn’t affect us too much because of our elevation, but if you were lower down, you’d be pretty annoyed.”
Craig McFarland, owner of the Wests Cordials building in South Dunedin, was pumping water out of the building on Friday morning. He commended locals and the council for their efforts.
“They put sandbags in for us. The worst thing is, it’s just slowly coming up a little bit more. Hopefully, it’ll go down soon.
“We’ll survive this. It’s not that bad. I think we’ve been pretty lucky. All the storms that have been hitting New Zealand and Dunedin have come out pretty well, so this is probably our turn.”
Flooding in South Dunedin. Photo / George Heard
Resident Sue Green spoke as floodwaters lapped at her front porch on Friday morning.
“It’s just distressing because the waters are rising, and we’re having cars coming through all the time... Most are going a wee bit slow, but it causes a wake, and it laps over the front step. It’s going to come to a point where it’s just going to come into the house, and it’s really upsetting. I don’t think they’ve got any business on a day like this to be out and about.”
“I’m upset, nervous, wondering whether I should be leaving. Is it sensible to still be here? The rain hasn’t stopped, and I just don’t know when I should be leaving.”
On Saturday morning, Moreau St residents Merridee, 73, and Kevin Watson, 74, said their home felt like a castle on Friday: “Water all around us. We couldn’t even get out. It was just water everywhere.”
Moreau Rd residents Merridee, 73, and Kevin Watson, 74. Photo / Ben Tomsett
“It wasn’t scary, but we were watching the houses across the road and thinking, ‘Oh my goodness,’” they said. “You can’t worry about what you can’t change. You can’t stop the rain.”
They echoed concerns about traffic: “The rubberneckers were causing the problem. You get a four-wheel drive, and the waters break over the bottom, just coming in all these houses.”
The couple said that they narrowly avoided water entering their home.
“It was very, very close. Our kids said, ‘Oh, you need to shift. You need to evacuate.’ But we couldn’t go to their place because they live by the Leith, and they were watching the rise,” they said.
The couple thanked the community and council for their support, who voluntarily placed sandbags and made welfare checks.
Now in limbo, they await updates from insurance and geotechnical engineers while grappling with uncertainty about their home and pets.
“Watching a force of nature just tear through things... it’s surreal,” Ralston said.
Neighbours Robert Aitken and Leah Watkins said they did not hear the landslip, but recalled being woken by a firefighter banging on their window to tell them to evacuate.
They quickly gathered some belongings and headed to the welfare centre at Forsyth Barr Stadium, where volunteers provided blankets and reassurance.
“I think the emergency services were tremendous,” Aitken said praising the response of the council and Red Cross, who assisted those in need, including people requiring medication.
“When you look out that window and see how close it was, I think people are very lucky.”
A state of emergency remains in effect for Dunedin and Clutha.
Dunedin flooding. Photo / George Heard
While State Highway 1 has reopened both north and south of Dunedin, many local roads remain closed because of slips and flooding and a boil water notice has been issued for parts of the city.
At a media stand-up from the city’s Civil Defence bunker on Saturday morning, Radich said that the cessation of rainfall came as a relief.
Radich said it was still too early for an overall assessment of the damage, associated costs and relief requirement, and more decisions would be made on Monday.
“We’ve moved out of the emergency situation, but now we’re looking to start on repair and cleanup,” he said.
