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About a dozen Avis rental cars were damaged when the company’s fleet was not moved in time during Monday’s deluge.
The rain, which caused significant flooding on the Taieri and in Mosgiel and Oamaru, also hit Dunedin Airport, flooding a carpark used by rental companies to store their fleets.
Car rental employees at the airport said the carpark was known to flood and they knew to move cars when the forecast looked grim.
However, Avis did not seem to get the memo, and about a dozen cars were flooded.
Once the waters receded enough to move the cars, they did not look to be in a good condition, a company spokeswoman said.
As if that was not dramatic enough, during the flooding an electric rental vehicle caught fire.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said firefighters from Dunedin Airport, Outram and Lookout Point went to the carpark at 4.20pm on Monday.
‘‘It appears that the vehicle was one of several that had been in floodwater — part of the back seat of the vehicle was burnt.’’
She said crews remained at the scene while an electrician disconnected the power.
A Dunedin Airport spokeswoman said staff worked to help the company.
The scene was cleared later in the day, she said.