Dunedin residents say flooding is like never before after a “scary night”.

Parts of Waikouaiti and Karitane north of Dunedin are under water.

A Dunedin resident in the suburb of Tainui said the flooding was the worst she had experienced in 30 years.

Botha St resident Pauline said she was up most of the night keeping an eye on water levels as the rain continued.

She can’t leave her house because her driveway is flooded.

“We are completely flooded, the water is quite high, although it has receded a little, it has probably sunk, we estimate it is about four centimeters [10cm].

“It goes all the way into our garage, so as you can see it’s pretty bad, the whole back yard is completely flooded, we can’t shower, we can’t flush the toilet, we can’t even brush our teeth, you can’t run the water down.” the sink because it just comes back up, it doesn’t drain at all.”

Pauline said she was grateful the floodwaters did not enter her home and she was looking forward to the rain easing later in the evening.

A resident of the Dunedin suburb of St Kilda, Bailey, told RNZ he felt sorry for his affected neighbors.

He said he and his partner Bethany eventually left their home and went to live with her parents.

“I’ve lived in Dunedin all my life and I’ve never seen anything this bad, not at all, it’s pretty wild.”

He said his plan for the rest of the day was to warm up, maybe drink a beer and watch TV.

Tainui resident Mike Taylor said he was at work last night and came home this morning to find ankle-deep water in his garden.

He said the community rallied around each other.

“We went and sandbagged the neighbor across the street and she had some left over so we threw them in the truck and so we drove out this morning and checked on another friend…and took a few to them People in the area who…” were sort of calling out to them.

“Everyone just does their part.”

Waikouaiti Coast Community board member Sonya Billyard said low-lying parts of the city were flooded.

The community was cut off after the NZ Transport Agency closed State Highway 1 south at Evansdale and also north.

The Coast Road, which connects the area to Dunedin via an alternative route, is also closed.

Billyard said it was too early to tell how extensive the flooding was.

“As soon as we see the light of day tomorrow there will be properties that are pretty badly damaged. There are a few low lying areas in Waikouaiti that I now know have properties that are under water or some are very close to it and just can’t hold back the water.”

Dunedin City Council is urging residents to evacuate if necessary.

“Scary night” for many Dunedin residents

It was a sleepless night for many Dunedin residents who were evacuated from their homes “knee-deep” in water.

About 100 people were evacuated on Thursday evening after a state of emergency was declared.

Residents flocked to the St. Clair Golf Club evacuation center and Forsyth Barr Stadium for safety.

Many residents reported knee-deep water in some homes in South Dunedin.

A St Clair resident told RNZ it was a “scary night” as he took turns checking where the water was on his Forbury Road property.

Neighbor Bernice Wright said her home would be in the line of fire if the rain continued to fall.

Forbury Road runs parallel to Surrey Street, where Dunedin Civil Defense and Emergency Management urged residents to evacuate last night ahead of the formal declaration of a state of emergency.

Wright said she has never seen rain like the last few days.

Last night was scary, she said.

Surrey St resident Lynn decided to stay in her home despite others evacuating last night.

She told RNZ that she did not want to leave her two cats behind and that there had been no flooding in her home. However, in case things got worse, her bags were packed and ready.

Lynn said her yard was flooded.

“It’s been raining heavily, I don’t know what’s happening in the rest of the city other than what I read on the city council’s Facebook pages.

“They were pretty great this time. This is the third time this has happened since I’ve been here, since 2009, and they’ve been really great.”

“I had the fire department, I had the civil defense, they came and brought sandbags because I couldn’t lift the sandbags, I live alone and I’m retired, so they did it this time, they were really great and really proactive.”

But Lynn said the main problem causing the flooding near her property was old infrastructure that couldn’t withstand the rain.

She didn’t think the water would rise as much as it would if the infrastructure were replaced.

“It’s just crazy and it just makes me angry.”

Chris Ford, who lives on a property in Kāinga Ora in South Dunedin, was evacuated on Thursday evening.

Ford told RNZ that there was a questionable pipe on his property that was causing him the most concern, leading to his decision to leave and leave as a precaution.

He was safe in a motel, although his landlord took steps to sandbag the property on Thursday.

Ford hoped the pipe would be repaired after this flood and hoped to return to his home later Friday or Saturday.

William Priest, who lives on Bayview Road, said it wasn’t the best night to celebrate his 18th birthday after heavy rain overnight flooded his backyard and he feared water would seep into his home.

He said the water was rising to the deck.

“We have a deck and it’s almost at the first level, so at some point it’s going to start going up, which is not a good thing.”

Floods affect farmers

Homes in the small settlement of Toko Mouth, near Milton, south of Dunedin, are surrounded by water and at risk of flooding if the rain continues.

Resident and farmer Simon Davies said there had been 130mm of rain in the last 24 hours and the power was out.

There were about 70 homes in the development, Davies said.

He said the paddocks were flooded and he hoped the cattle managed to get to higher ground.

Another resident of the settlement, Glenda Wallace, told RNZ that the roads leading into RNZ were impassable.

At least one tree lay on the road from Milton, which ran along the Tokomairiro River, and the coastal road to Kaitangata, although higher up, was also flooded and damaged.

Wallace said her home was elevated, although water was rising in other homes in the development and the nearby creek was running “high and fast.”

She had no electricity, but a wood fire allowed her to make tea and toast.

She said she and her neighbors check on each other.

In the meantime, she would “squat with a cup of tea and a book.”

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