Army personnel and Waitaki civil defence staff, using two army Unimog trucks, collected milk, bread, bottled water, canned food and soups donated by Countdown supermarket in Oamaru. They then drove to the worst-hit areas, calling at houses affected by flooding to drop off the food.
They travelled through the Waiareka and Kakanui Valleys, the Waitaki Valley and back to Oamaru via State Highway 1 on their mercy mission.
Residents in all the homes they visited reported they had coped well with the flooding, despite some being isolated by high water at times.
At Hilderthorpe, nine Korean tourists travelling in two vehicles ignored a road-closure sign, with one of the Mitsubishi Outlanders getting stranded in about 1m of water, about 1.30pm.
They declined all offers of assistance, but were brought to civil defence headquarters about 4pm. They were checked by St John ambulance officers for hypothermia, given sandwiches and hot soup and arrangements were made to get them to Christchurch for their flight home today.
Mary Leigh, who lives near Enfield in the Waiareka Valley, was in Oamaru on Tuesday and stocked up on food because of the storm warning.
She said she shifted her animals under cover from a low-lying paddock before it flooded.
She was grateful for the fresh milk and bread delivered yesterday.
So was Lyn Russell, who lives in the two-storeyed jockeys' quarters on the Elderslie Estate. She was able to get out from her home at various times and was not badly affected by flooding.
"I managed to buy in some extra food before the storm hit," she said.
Neighbours had helped each other, including feeding and caring for stock.
Dudley Lester, at the Tokarahi Garage, was also isolated, but his home was not affected by flooding.
Like others, he welcomed the fresh bread, milk, soup and a couple of warm pies for his and 5-year-old daughter Irma's lunch.
The closure of SH1 delayed delivery of the Otago Daily Times in North Otago on Wednesday.
However, some rural mail customers in the area did not receive Wednesday's or yesterday's edition because of flooding.
