Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher declared a state of emergency at 8pm for Waitaki after: widespread surface flooding; two urban creeks breached their banks; people self-evacuated from their homes; nearly 30 district roads were closed; and Oamaru Volunteer Fire Brigade ran out of sand for people to use to protect their homes.
An ambulance was left stranded in a field near Enfield after it became stuck in floodwaters when emergency services attempted to rescue a man who had climbed on to the roof of his vehicle as floodwaters surrounded it about 5.20pm.
Sergeant Tony Woodbridge, of Oamaru, said locals arranged for a farmer nearby to use his tractor to rescue the man about 5.40pm.
Another local farmer rescued the Oamaru St John ambulance officers.
There were scores of callouts for North Otago Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) units.
A Fenz spokesman said yesterday was "full on" with most of the callouts in the Oamaru area.
One callouts was from the Oamaru Fire Station which had flooded. As a crew worked to pump water out of the station, fire brigade chief Steve Couper was directing units to other calls.
The station also ran out of sand for sand bags, but Dunedin City Council was planning to deliver additional sand last night. Mr Kircher said there was no costing yet for damage caused by the floods to council infrastructure or private homes.
The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) had to find accommodation for at least three people by 7pm yesterday who were affected by flooding, Mr Kircher said, and several people had evacuated by them selves.
"We’re advising people if they think they’re at risk to get out while it was daylight.’’He expected roads to have been hit hard and stormwater and sewerage systems to have been put under pressure.
"A lot of road closures. Quite a number of sealed roads breaking up ... no doubt a reasonable amount of water damage.
"It’s the biggest rainfall event that I’ve been involved in. It’s been pretty full on.
"The day has been certainly most unusual. It’s an incredible amount of rain in a short period of time and the effects have taken effect quickly."
At least two urban waterways breached their banks before 7pm, he said.
Oamaru Creek at Severn St came across Cross St and Muddy Creek in Oamaru North breached, he said.
A Waitaki District Council spokeswoman Alena Lynch said Whitestone Contracting Ltd began sandbagging residential properties in Chelmer and Conway Sts, and Walbrook Cres about 4pm yesterday.
MetService duty forecaster Larissa Marintchenko said 61mm of rain fell in Oamaru from 5am to 5pm yesterday.
From 5pm yesterday to midday today, Metservice predicted a further 100mm to 150mm would fall, she said.
The long-term mean for July was 40mm and so far for July 2017 it was already 93mm, Ms Marintchenko said.
She said the highest recorded rainfall for July in Oamaru was in 1999 when 124.4mm fell.
Niwa spokeswoman Nava Fedaeff said for Oamaru the previous wettest July day on record was the July 30, 1974 when 56.1mm of rain was recorded.
"If we look at the current daily amount for Oamaru, so 9am to 5pm today, there has been 60.4mm of rain recorded. That means that Oamaru has already recorded it’s wettest July day on record today and we’re still counting till 9am."
New Zealand Transport Agency spokeswoman Tresca Forrester said all major roads out of the lower South Island were expected to be shut until about 5pm today.
The decision was made after lunchtime yesterday to close State Highway 1 from Glenavy to Pukeuri and State Highway 83 from Duntroon to Pukeuri, Ms Forrester said.
If people needed to travel north they had the option of driving over the Lindis Pass with chains on during snow or they could go up the West Coast.
The Waitaki District Council last night, on its website, advised drivers most roads in the Waitaki Plains were affected by surface flooding and impassable in some areas.
Surface flooding was widespread in Oamaru. Most intersections with State Highway 1 in town had surface flooding.
On its website last night the council listed 28 roads were closed in the district due to the storm and 27 roads were under cautions.
● The Citizens Shield club rugby semifinals were postponed for a week; the Oamaru Tap Dancing Association postponed its annual competitions until further notice and tomorrow’s gallops race meeting, including the Oamaru Cup, was postponed until Wednesday.
