The Dunedin Emergency Operations Centre will stand down this afternoon but more rain is forecast and authorities will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days.
Rain is easing, although MetService is predicting more for the city and surrounds overnight and tomorrow morning.
DCC Civil Defence Controller Sandy Graham said the forecast rain was not expected to cause any major issues.
“The rain predicted is well within the range that our systems and operational teams can cope with.
''At this stage, there is no need for residents to be worried, but if they do have any weather-related concerns they should contact us on 03 477 4000. If the situation changes we will react accordingly.”
Ms Graham said the operations centre would close at 4pm, but staff would monitor the weather and were prepared to reactivate the centre should the need arise.
“We are extremely grateful to all of the staff, contractors, emergency services, agencies, Red Cross personnel, volunteers and community members who assisted with the response.
“We took a proactive stance to ensure all preparations were in place should flooding occur. Fortunately it didn’t, but the efforts from all involved were tremendous,” Ms Graham said
Earlier story
The city came through an overnight soaking with few issues.
No residents were evacuated and MetService has lifted the heavy rain warning for the city, North Otago and Clutha.
The Dunedin City Council had opened three information centres in anticipation of possible evacuations but all have been closed because of a lack of demand.
Centres in North Dunedin and Mosgiel were closed at 11.30pm last night and the site at the Caledonian Gymnasium was shut down at 3.30am this morning.
DCC Civil Defence Controller Ruth Stokes said the central city Emergency Operations Centre would remain open to monitor the situation, but at this stage was not anticipating any major issues.
The centre would continue operating with scaled-back staffing this morning. The situation would be reviewed again at 1pm.
“More rain is predicted, but it is well within the range that our systems and operational teams can cope with. At this stage, there is no need for residents to be concerned. If the situation changes we will react accordingly,” Mrs Stokes said.
Roading and stormwater/wastewater crews worked through the night and there were only two reports of minor property flooding.
Highcliff Rd, from Camp Rd to just above Portobello Rd, will be closed from around 6pm to 7am each night over the Easter weekend due to safety reasons.
Access will be available for residents. Emergency access for Sandymount Road residents is via Hoopers Inlet and emergency access for Seal Point Road Residents is via Pukehiki. These temporary closures will be reassessed on Tuesday.
Several minor slips had occurred on Portobello and Aramoana Roads, but none were affecting traffic. Temporary traffic management was in place around the city where there was surface flooding.
Regular checks were carried out of the city’s key stormwater screens and there were no issues, Mrs Stokes said.
The Kaikorai Stream was running 50cm higher than usual by about 50cm, but this had not created any problems.
Of the weather stations in the region, Musselburgh in Dunedin got the most yesterday.
It received 57.6mm between 3am and 9.30pm yesterday.
MetService meteorologist Brian Mercer said the heavy rain forecast to hit eastern Otago between 3am and noon today would ''skirt'' around the coast and mostly fall at sea.
''The worst of the falls will not hit the land.''
Up to 15mm of rain per hour could fall between 3am to 9am today, he said.
But heavy rain relating to the remnants of Cyclone Cook was expected to hit the region tomorrow.
Coastal areas in Otago would bear the brunt of the rainfall.
ORC director engineering, hazards and science Dr Gavin Palmer said river flows were expected to increase overnight and staff would continue to monitor the situation.
The bulk of the predicted rain was forecast to fall in the Dunedin area, but the ORC would monitor river levels across Otago, Mr Palmer said.
''In Dunedin we are paying particular attention to Silver Stream at Gordon Rd spillway, Lindsay Creek in Northeast Valley, and the Water of Leith around Leith St central.''
The ORC encouraged people to keep an eye on the DCC website, Otago Civil Defence website, and weather reports, and to make sure they were prepared for what could be a ''significant weather event''.
Dunedin prepared for the worst yesterday.
Southern district commander Superintendent Paul Basham said police had about 300 LandSAR volunteers on standby despite the flooding threat being downgraded last night. The DCC opened three information centres - Caledonian Gymnasium in South Dunedin, George Street Normal School hall and Mosgiel Memorial Park Gymnasium - at 6pm last night.
The centres would have been used as welfare centres if needed.
The council had people on the street in South Dunedin and Mosgiel door-knocking to check the welfare of residents.
The roads closed overnight in Dunedin due to flooding were Silverstream Valley, Miller, McIntosh and Gladfield.
A couple of minor slips on Portobello Rd were cleared yesterday.
The council had closed all sportsgrounds yesterday and today.
The Dunedin Rugby Metropolitan Council would announce at 9am today if it would cancel premier rugby.
All freedom camping sites were closed yesterday until further notice.
Sandbags were also available in Mosgiel, North Dunedin, Ocean Grove and South Dunedin yesterday.
Radius Fulton Care Centre facility manager Robyn Bowie said the Caversham rest-home was prepared yesterday to stop a repeat of the flooding in 2015.
Sandbags were laid to protect vulnerable areas and some residents spent the night with families as a precaution, she said.
A Southern DHB spokeswoman said an emergency operations centre was opened at Dunedin Hospital, but its operations were not affected last night.
University of Otago asked the residents of several flats near the Water of Leith to shift items in their yards to higher ground, in case the stream flooded.
Mr Mercer said fine spells and showers were forecast across eastern Otago on Saturday.
The cloudy weather on Sunday morning would clear for a fine afternoon.
-Additionally reported by David Loughrey
