A state of emergency has been declared in Queenstown, with more than 100 households evacuated overnight due to fears over slips and flooding.
It comes as heavy rain lashed much of the South Island yesterday.
The rain has eased but there’s considerable surface flooding across farmland and on the roads around Gore. (Source: 1News)
NIWA said between 9am Thursday and 9am today 87mm of rain fell in Queenstown, the most that's fallen in a day in 24 years.
Wānaka recorded 98mm in the same period, it's wettest day in 17 years.
A "very sticky" mud is covering streets in the resort town's centre. (Source: 1News)
"Both locations had over a month's worth of rain in a day."
Snow has been reported on State Highway 80 near Aoraki Mt Cook. Lake Tekapo has received 8cm of snow while 5-10cm has fallen across Central Otago.
Queenstown mayor Glyn Lewers said the rain is an "active and evolving" situation.
"We have been working with emergency management throughout the night to assess the full extent of the situation in the current conditions.
"Several flooding and debris events have been identified, and we're continuing to contact affected people, including evacuating over 100 people," he said.
"A temporary evacuation centre has been set up at St Peter's Church to manage evacuees who have not been able to relocate."
Sixty-eight people have been evacuated from the Brecon St area, and 41 have been evacuated from the Reavers Lane area.
"If you've been affected by evacuations, please do not return to your property until you have been advised it is safe to do so," the council said in a statement.
In a 10.15am update, the QLDC said the rain has cleared and assessments are taking place.
A geotechnical engineer supported by a drone operator will assess the affected areas above Queenstown's town centre, including Upper Brecon St and Reavers Lane, Fryer St and Hamilton Rd.
An initial clean-up operation is already happening on Isle St, Robins Rd, Duke St, Shotover St and Camp St.
The town centre is open but caution is urged.
Southland MP Joseph Mooney said although part of the hill near the gondolas had come down, damage was "thankfully" limited.
However, the cemetery had "reasonably significant damage".
"A bit of a clean-up job to be done here," he remarked of part of the city centre, which has streets covered in mud.
Given more rain was on the way, he said there would be a "watching brief" on the hill.
A regional state of emergency remains in place for Southland after downpours caused flooding and slips yesterday.
Emergency Management Southland said there is still considerable surface flooding across farmland, on roads and around towns, particularly in Gore, State Highway 6 and SH99.
State Highway 1 between Gore and Mataura remains closed, with a new detour in place via SH96, Waimumu Rd and Charlton Rd. State Highway 6 is closed between Jollies Hill and Kingston due to flooding and slips, while SH99 from Wallacetown to the intersection at Lorneville with SH6 is closed due to floodwaters.
A number of schools are also closed.
"A number of schools and kindergartens throughout Southland are likely to be closed tomorrow [Friday] due to the flooding event," Emergency Management Southland warned on Facebook.
"Please check your school or kindergarten's Facebook page and listen to your local radio stations for updates."
Tuatapere's water plant is back in operation via a generator.
"The plant still has significant damage but it is up and running," the Southland District Council said.
"To date, the water is safe but please continue to boil your water until further notification.
"A massive thank you goes out to all the crews who worked through the night to get the plant up and running again to provide water to Tuatapere."
Gore, which was one of the first regions to declare a state of emergency, is currently focusing on monitoring the river and pumping people's basements.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, mayor Ben Bell said the rain is now starting to slow down.
"There is a tiny bit of drizzle but nowhere as much rain as yesterday.
"Today, we're keeping an eye on the river levels. The main river, the Mataura, hasn't peaked yet.
"They shouldn't peak until 7pm tonight."
He added "nothing mission critical" at the moment.
Garston resident Jon Mitchell, who owns a property overlooking the Mataura River, told 1News everyone is feeling "pretty fortunate" following the storm, as things could have been "a lot worse".
"We saw it coming up steadily over the last 48 hours or so, and then that peaked last night in our area, probably about midnight or so, after the extreme winds of the day before peaking around midnight or 1am."
He described the area as being covered in silt, with debris on the road.
"It's very dirty. There's clearly a lot of erosion happening in places with silt moving down the stream and settling elsewhere," he said.
"There's a lot of logs that have been picked up then left in places, including on the road, which is causing problems.
"The river's now subsiding steadily, and the surface flooding's going down as well."
"Our major concern for today is just travelling around," Gore's Civil Defence controller Simon Mapp said.
"We'd ask people not to travel around. There's a lot of surface water still out there."
He is advising people to "hop onto the NZTA website and see which roads are closed and which ones are open".
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