Wild weather: Otago Councils kept busy as rain continues to fall

The Dunedin City Council is busy responding to 120 callouts today relating to slips, fallen trees and flooding around the city as rain continues to fall across the region.

State Highway 1 from Dunedin to Palmerston has been closed all day and Waitati Hall and East Otago Events Centre have opened to provide shelter and warmth to stranded truck drivers.

The main thoroughfare is also closed further north, between Glenavy and St Andrews.

Heavy rain warnings remain in place for Dunedin and North Otago and a heavy rain watch has been put in place for Clutha.

A car was left stranded in floodwaters on SH1 north of Maheno this morning, where the Kakanui River has burst its banks. Photo /Rebecca Ryan

Dunedin's heavy rain warning was extended until 3pm today and North Otago's until 2pm.

Clutha can expect periods of heavy rain until 11pm tonight.

MetService had earlier expected the rain to ease off by mid-morning.

Another 15-20mm of rain is expected in Dunedin and North Otago, on top of what has already fallen. Accumulated rainfall reached up to 140mm across Dunedin and 120mm in North Otago in the 24 hours until this morning.

Some North Otago schools have closed for the day, including Five Forks, Maheno, Omarama, Duntroon, Ardgowan, Kakanui, Totara, Hampden and Maheno Kindergarten

In Dunedin, East Taieri School and Preschool are also both closed.

Civil Defence has advised parents to contact schools to find out when they will reopen.
A DCC spokesman said despite the callouts, there were no reports of major damage to property and the city's infrastructure appeared to have "coped well".

Twenty-seven roads are closed around the city, including the Coast Road around Karitane, which is among the worst affected. A full list of closed roads is at the bottom of the page.

Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins said this morning that the worst of the rain appeared to be over and there were no further evacuations overnight.

Dunedin police going door to door evacuating those in homes at risk. Photo / Allison Images

"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," he said.

There had been no major flooding but Dunedin Civil Defence emergency management were continuing to watch streams and rivers, particularly Lindsay Creek and the Water of Leith in North Dunedin.

The Waikouaiti and Taieri Rivers are also being monitored.

By 12.30pm, the Water of Leith and Lindsay Creek had started to drop but were still being closely monitored.

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.

Coast Rd, near the intersection with SH1, is covered with water as stranded trucks wait for the highway to reopen. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery

Police said a sinkhole had opened up on Gladstone Rd in Dalmore, near Aquinas College, overnight. The road is closed.

Water flowing down Gladstone Rd caused the sinkhole to open up further while police and contractors were on site.

There were also multiple slips on Portobello Rd, police said.

Dunedin evacuees

Seventy-one people from 26 addresses in some low-lying North Dunedin flats near the Water of Leith were evacuated last night as flood waters threatened properties.

They were allowed back early this morning and only a small number of people used the evacuation centre at Dunedin North Intermediate overnight.

Campus Watch staff door-knocked about 35 affected properties between Montgomery Ave and Leith St central late yesterday afternoon to warn residents of possible flooding.
A Dunedin City Council spokeswoman said students were told to consider leaving their flats if they had somewhere else to go, and those who chose to remain were asked to have a bag packed and be ready to move at short notice.

At 7pm, campus staff evacuated the tenants.

Leith St resident Aimie Clark, 21, of Christchurch, said she and her flatmates did not leave on the first request, believing they would be safe as long as water did not come through their back fence.

But they got a fright when they were told evacuation was no longer voluntary, she said.

"It's a bit scary and an adventure at the same time."

She took a bag packed with her passport, a laptop and other electronics, and a change of clothes, and planned to bunk down at a friend's place.

Blacks Road Grocer was inundated with about 15cm of floodwater in North East Valley yesterday and was too damaged to open today.

Shop owner Christopher Wilson believed it was caused by roadworks further up the street.

As a precaution, several patients were evacuated from the Otago Community Hospice, in North Rd, to Mercy Hospital last night.

The council had organised an evacuation centre at Dunedin North Intermediate and alternative accommodation options were also available.

Flooding on State Highway1 between Maheno and Oamaru yesterday afternoon. Photo / Rebecca Ryan

Flooding was also widespread in Mosgiel and South Dunedin, and the council and New Zealand Army reserves set up sandbag stations in those areas for residents to collect.
In Maheno, flooding concerns forced Maheno School to close early yesterday.

Principal Stella Macrae said she warned parents earlier in the day and all 64 pupils had been picked up by 2.15pm.

A message would be posted on the school's Facebook page today to let people know if the school was open.

Emergency Management Otago (EMO) urged people to remain vigilant of water levels in their area overnight, particularly in areas more susceptible to flooding, as the heavy rain continued across Otago.

The slow-moving weather front moved down the South Island yesterday and was expected to continue until late this morning, when the rain was expected to begin easing.

An EMO spokeswoman said vulnerable areas included parts of South Dunedin such as Bathgate Park, Leith St, Lindsay Creek near Otago Hospice in North Rd, Mosgiel near the Silver Stream spillway in Gordon Rd, Henley township, Milton and State Highway 1 at Waikouaiti.

Out of the water after a surf down the Water of Leith last evening are (from left) Riley Green, 19, Anton Weight, 20, and brother Croyden Weight, 19. Photo / Linda Robertson

State Highway 1 through Hampden is open but Big Kuri Creek has burst its banks and water has covered the bridge.

State Highway 85 (the Pigroot) remains open but floodwater and a fallen tree mean speed restrictions are in place.

In Oamaru, Old Mill Rd and Parsons Rd were closed this morning due to flooding, along with more than 20 other rural roads around the district.

A tree has fallen on SH85, blocking at least one lane of traffic. Photo / Amy Hughes

A Waitaki District Council spokesperson said the Kakanui River had plateaued overnight but was rising again early this morning. The Shag and Grange Rivers were also high and continuing to rise.

Emergency Management Otago urged people to remain vigilant of water levels in their area, particularly in areas more susceptible to flooding.

State Highway 87 to Middlemarch is open but surface flooding means speed restrictions are in place.

State Highway 1 between Palmerston and Dunedin is closed due to flooding. Photo / Supplied