Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell has praised the “gold standard” of the emergency response in Ōtepoti | Dunedin, as NIWA says the city has experienced its wettest day in a century, according to provisional results.
But the city’s mayor, Jules Radich, warned there’s “still a heck of a lot of water on the surface”, and echoed warnings not to travel unless necessary.
Authorities had a united message on Friday morning: The rain is forecast to continue all day.
Radich said the stormwater network was “coping much better now” compared with past weather events, and said any break in the weather would offer an opportunity for pipes and pumps to catch up.
North Otago, Dunedin, and parts of the Clutha District remain under a red weather warning until 9pm Friday.
Radich praised “the resilience and determination of Dunedin residents”, saying many helped each other with filling sandbags, while others offered their vehicles to take sandbags to the areas they were most needed.
Incredible rainfall in Dunedin.
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) October 3, 2024
From 4 pm Wednesday to 8 am today, 143 mm of rain has fallen at our Musselburgh location.
To put in perspective:
💧Normal Oct rainfall is 60 mm
💧This is about 2.4 times the Oct normal
💧What would typically fall in 74 days, took 40 hours pic.twitter.com/Hzu3aiHDGX
The city averages 60mm of rain for October but has seen 144mm of rain in the last two days alone.
Another 40-60 mm of rain is yet to come.
Emergency management group controller Matt Alley said 60 people were evacuated to St Clair Park, and 23 people to Forsyth Barr Stadium.
He also warned against unnecessary travel, warning surface flooding was still prevalent this morning across parts of the city.
“We have a number of state highways closed at present,” including SH87, 88 and 90.
He said responders would work around the clock to restore access to roads impacted by flooding or landslips.