By Grant Miller and staff reporters
Widespread heavy rain in Otago cleared last night and attention will now turn to assessing the impact of the drenching, then the recovery.
Inspections of roading and rail links were expected to happen this morning and the MetService was predicting some sunshine by the afternoon.
Sustained rainfall since Thursday led to Dunedin being cut off yesterday because of surface flooding on state highways, and slips damaged infrastructure in the broader region.
Last night, a MetService forecaster said the worst was over.
A heavy rain warning was downgraded, but one or two showers might be heavy in North Otago, Dunedin and coastal Clutha and there was still a "threat to life from dangerous river conditions, flooding and slips", the service said.
"Conditions will disrupt travel, make some roads impassable and isolate communities."The Clutha district declared a state of emergency yesterday afternoon after Dunedin had done so on Thursday just before midnight.
Emergency Management Otago group controller Matt Alley said yesterday evening staff were monitoring rivers and tributaries.
At that point, it was too soon to say when people who had self-evacuated could return to their homes.
South Dunedin, Clutha and all low-lying areas in the region had been significantly affected, he said.
The Clutha Mata-Au River was being watched closely, particularly around Balclutha.
Earlier, Dunedin was reported as having had its wettest day in more than a century.Niwa said about 130mm of rain fell on Musselburgh, Dunedin, between Thursday and yesterday morning.
Residents in South Dunedin, particularly in Caversham in and around the areas near Hillside Rd and Surrey St, were encouraged to shift to higher ground if they noticed rising water.
Surrey St smelled of overflowing sewage.
Welfare centres remained open last night at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin and the East Otago Events Centre in Waikouaiti.
Emergency Response Minister Mark Mitchell visited Dunedin yesterday and praised the response to the deluge as "gold standard".
The government announced yesterday an extra $50,000 would be made available for farmers in Southland and parts of Otago.Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds said relentless wet weather in September and then this week had taken a toll on morale.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said the community had shown resilience in the face of severe weather.
"I’m very proud of the community response — we’re seeing people band together right across the city to help," he said.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called to a landslip above Ravensbourne about 1.30am yesterday.
Houses in the vicinity were evacuated.
That was followed by notices urging residents of Otago Peninsula and West Harbour to conserve water.Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said he received calls about the situation at 2am and 4am yesterday and the task then was to get the word out about such things as where people could access fresh water supplies.
Ōtākou rūnaka head Edward Ellison said he kept an eye on the marae there and Harington Point, as well as his own farm.
Mr Ellison said young people were at a hui at the marae and they diverted water away from the church on Thursday evening.
Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chairman Andrew Simms said yesterday afternoon the Taieri seemed to have come through the sustained rainfall better than had been expected.
The Mosgiel stormwater system functioned much better than it would have five years ago, he said.
Mr Simms said an effective sandbagging operation had been run out of the Memorial Park carpark in Mosgiel and volunteers such as Scouts and Boys’ Brigade members had pitched in.Rail freight was disrupted by the closure of the Main South Line between Timaru and Invercargill from late Thursday and the line was expected to remain closed over the weekend.
KiwiRail South Island infrastructure manager Gary Ikin said track teams found a series of slips and washouts.
"We have been unable to inspect some areas, due to closed roads and flooding, including the rail line between Dunedin and Port Chalmers," Mr Ikin said yesterday afternoon.
KiwiRail intended to have teams out early this morning to undertake detailed inspections and begin repairs.
An opening event for the Hillside workshops had been due to happen yesterday, but this was postponed after the severe weather warning.
