Otago struck by flooding

Consistent and heavy rain has flooded shops and houses in Oamaru this morning and caused widespread slips and surface flooding throughout much of Otago.

Oamaru Chief Fire Officer Gary Gibson said the town's fire services had been flat out responding to calls from about 4.30am, with drainage and gutters unable to cope with the volume of water.

"There has been steady rain right throughout the night and it has basically gone through and backed up now. The gutters just won't cope with it," Mr Gibson said.

He said houses and shops were being affected and the fire station itself began taking on water at daybreak.

"We're pumping it out where we can, but there are some places you can't do it. All we can do at this stage is try and protect property."

Oamaru's emergency services manager Eric Spittal said it had been raining hard since 9am yesterday and there had been numerous emergency calls from the public.

Mr Spittal said the big rivers in the region were getting high and creating cause for concern, but the immediate problem was flooding through houses and slips.

About 150mm of rain was expected in the 24 hours until mid-morning.

Dunedin was also getting heavy rain and a spokesman from the city's St Kilda fire station said it had caused surface flooding and a few slips overnight.

Autumn leaves were compounding the problem by blocking drains and council staff were clearing them as fast as they could.

There had been several callouts for minor flooding in basements and the northern motorway was down to one lane because of a large slip.

A spokesman from the Mosgiel fire station said there were no immediate problems from the flooding, but the situation was being closely monitored.

- NZPA