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Four homes in Palmerston were evacuated last night with water waist deep running down State Highway One "like a river".
Constable Stefan Witehira went from house to house with volunteers evacuating four houses near the Pleasant River and had to carry one elderly couple out.
"It's pretty much cleared up but the rivers are still high," Mr Witehira said.
He said there will be a clean-up underway today but the river water itself did not run through houses.
Chief fire officer Geoff Davis said this morning everything is getting back to normal.
"The creaks and rivers are receding. We're very lucky actually. Within the town itself, I don't think there has been any flooding," Mr Davis said.
He said today will be about cleaning up and drying things out.
Mr Davis also delivers mail on a rural delivery route and said today with the damage to roads, delivering mail will be "interesting".
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.
Environment Canterbury 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.
Ecan measuring equipment in Waimate recorded 42mm of rain falling on the town in four hours.
Transit's coastal Otago engineer Peter Robinson said State Highway One north of Oamaru is closed and a detour is in place.
He said some parts of the highway are down to one lane but passable.
State Highway 8 linking Milton with central Otago is closed near Clarksville.
"There will be teams out on the road this morning and motorists need to allow time for their travels," Mr Robinson said.
Dunedin Civil Defence spokesman Neil Brown said residents reported flooding in flat areas of Dunedin, including Mosgiel and parts of South Dunedin.
No-one was evacuated by Civil Defence, though some people in Dunedin chose to leave their homes overnight because the sounds of water nearby made them uncomfortable, he said.
"All up, there were no real dramas here," he told NZPA.
"The rain was steady, so the rivers and streams were able to deal with most of it."
Dunedin mayor Peter Chin said he was yet to be briefed this morning but the weather had eased over night.
"It's a matter of picking up the pieces and assessing it in the light of day," Mr Chin said.
The city was on a Civil Defence alert yesterday afternoon and Mr Chin said he was told he was on call but no call came last night.
According to rain gauges on the regional council's website, the Pine Hill station has recorded over 73ml in the last 24 hours.
"Last night when I left the office I went down to the Leith, she was a raging torrent - really wild. But I would think it's quieting down a hell of a lot," Mr Chin said.
- NZ Herald staff, NZPA
