Update: 8:04am – This morning’s high tide in Christchurch was lower than expected and there have been no overnight evacuations of the Southshore or Heathcote River areas.
The city council said emergency teams were monitoring the high tide that peaked about 3.45am but so far they haven’t had to operate pumps.
The torrential rain that caused the Heathcote to burst its banks yesterday has filled nearby basins and they will take days to drain.
The council is planning for the next high tide, due about 4.15pm.
Christchurch Civil Defence Controller Mary Richardson said the floodwaters were likely to be contaminated, so people must wash their hands if they came into contact with any.
She said while the mains water supply was safe to drink, people should keep their use of it for other purposes to a minimum.
“We are asking people across the city to limit their water use, or limit their water use that produces wastewater, like flushing toilets or washing, because our wastewater pumps are having to handle the increased inflow.”
Water on Banks Peninsula would be supplied by tankers and safe for drinking, Ms Richardson said.
The welfare centre that was set up at Linwood College closed last night as many of those evacuated chose to stay with friends and family instead.
Second night away from home for some Otago evacuees
In rural parts of Dunedin, people who were evacuated overnight on Friday and yesterday because of the flooding spent the night away from their homes.
Residents of Henley, Outram, and other parts of the Taieri Plain and Mosgiel are affected.
Civil Defence advised them not to return home because the Taieri River level, and its stability, would be difficult to judge in the dark.
The situation would be reassessed at dawn.
In metropolitan Dunedin, Ravenswood Street in St Clair is closed and 12 houses have been evacuated because of a slip.
People have been told to stay out of the area until further notice.
Most major roads now open
Almost all the major roads in the far south that were closed yesterday have reopened, but caution is still advised on most routes.
At one point yesterday morning, all state highways in the southeast of the South Island were impassable because of flooding and slips.
This morning just two major closures remain: State Highway 85 from Palmerston in East Otago, to Kyeburn inland; and SH8 heading from Milton towards Central Otago, as far as Raes Junction.
A section of SH1 south of the Waitaki Bridge as far as Pukeuri is shut, with a detour in place.
And much of the main road from Dunedin to Port Chalmers, SH88, is still closed because of slips.
In Canterbury, SH1 from Rolleston to Rakaia remains closed, as does the main road on Banks Peninsula, SH75 from Halswell to Akaroa. That closure will be reassessed at 9am.
Homes in Taihape still without power
In the North Island, about 130 properties in the Taihape area remain without electricity because of last week’s storm.
Lines company Powerco said yesterday’s weather hampered efforts to get replacement power poles out to the affected areas, because helicopters were grounded.
The area northeast of Mangaweka was one of the worst-hit regions, and that’s where most of the properties without power are.
Powerco spokesperson Dean Stevenson said about a quarter of those affected were residential addresses.
He said contractors have been going door-to-door in some parts to make sure people have access to generators.
-RNZ
