Damage in North Otago caused by intense rain on Thursday night and Good Friday can now be assessed and reported to the Waitaki District Council by its contractor.
Some roads received major damage that will have to be repaired in the future, the focus on Saturday and yesterday being on ensuring all residents and communities had access.
Mr Raine said there was less rain but more floodwater than in the June floods last year, due to wet ground conditions and the intense rain falling in a shorter time.
The flooding in June caused almost $2 million damage, but that included the loss of a bridge in Danseys Pass.
Mr Raine said the worry now was the North Otago coastal area could not sustain a lot of rain in the near future.
''It will take at least four weeks for the area to dry out,'' he said.
At this stage, there were no further warnings of heavy rain.
The largest rainfall recorded was on Mt Stalker, at the back of Herbert, where 138mm fell. The Dasher, on the Kakanui Mountains, had about 120mm and Clifton Falls in the Kakanui Valley about 72mm. Areas on the coast received up to 70mm.
The Civil Defence headquarters in Oamaru was activated on Friday until about 11am on Saturday. Rainfall started to ease late on Friday.
Easter holiday drivers were trapped by floodwater across the road at various points between Oamaru and Dunedin, but accommodation was mostly full in Oamaru, Timaru and surrounding towns.
Civil Defence set up welfare centres to provide accommodation and food on Friday night.
About 160 people were accommodated in Hampden, 120 in Maheno, 66 at high school hostels in Oamaru, 20 at Uenuku Marae in Moeraki and 18 in Palmerston.
Mr Raine thanked the hostels, Te Runanga O Moeraki and civil defence volunteers for their assistance to stranded travellers.
Motorists in North Otago were still being warned to take care on roads. While floodwaters had receded, some roads had suffered major damage.
• The Danseys Pass Coach Inn remained isolated yesterday for the third successive day after washouts on both the North Otago and Central Otago sides of the mountain road.
About 4m of the Danseys Pass road has been washed away at the approach to the Kyeburn River bridge, which was also washed out in June last year.
Manager Ang Williams said the Coach Inn had been fully booked for Easter and was also booked out for the following weekend.
Visitors stranded at the hotel were taken out by helicopter or by 4WD vehicle, going across farmland. Miss Williams was unsure when the access would be repaired.- Additional reporting Lynda van Kempen
