Torrential rain pounded Dunedin for several minutes this afternoon, causing some surface flooding.
In less than 30 minutes 15mm of rain fell in the central city with 18.8mm falling in the hour between 4pm and 5pm.
Alex Hedley, shift manager at Starbucks Coffee, at the St Andrew St-George St intersection, said staff responded positively and customers continued to arrive for coffees after a gutter overflowed in the downpour, and water came into part of the premises.
Mr Hedley, who used his telephone to take some photos of traffic moving through the water outside the premises, said the flood was "definitely unexpected''.
Prompt action had been taken to protect stock in a storeroom, and he was working late on the subsequent clean up, but he was taking the situation in his stride.
Water washed into several businesses in the city, and the Fire Service was called to pump water out of one store.
The deluge proved too much for some roofs, which started leaking, and there were reports of burglar alarms being set off by the rain.
- More details in tomorrow's ODT
