The Dunedin City Council is making sandbags available for residents after news that the tail of a storm ravaging much of the lower North Island today is expected to hit the city tomorrow.
The council said that with a period of heavy rain threatening it was making sandbags available in South Dunedin and Mosgiel "out of an abundance of caution".
"We’ll be opening self-serve sandbag stations from 5pm today at the Dunedin Ice Stadium carpark in Victoria Rd, South Dunedin, and at Mosgiel Memorial carpark.
"Some pre-filled bags will be available, as well as sand and shovels, but we encourage people to come ready to fill their own bags."
The council said its contractors were out and about today "making sure our network is prepared for tomorrow’s weather".
Earlier, MetService meteorologist Alanna Burrows said advisories for heavy rain and severe gales had been issued for eastern parts of the South Island, as a deep low east of the country tracks slowly southwards.
"We've had this low pressure system centred just offshore to the east of the North Island, and it's drawn a huge amount of moisture down from the tropics.
"So it's this big moisture-laden low with tropical air wrapped around it.
"It's pushing slowly southwards and as it does so, it's pushing lots of bands of rain across the country, and that's why we're starting to see that heavy rainfall.
"We've seen it over the North Island, and then as it tracks southwards, we're expecting that heavy rain to push into the east coast of the South Island."
Periods of heavy rain are expected to hit Dunedin (east of Pukerangi) from 5am until 9pm tomorrow, and there is a possibility the watch could be upgraded to an orange warning.
Large waves and dangerous sea conditions are also expected, and coastal inundation is possible about exposed coasts.
MetService is forecasting the heavy rain to peak between 10am and 2pm.
Heavy rain was also expected to fall further north to Oamaru, but to a lesser extent.
Residents should keep up to date with the latest forecasts.
She said it had been "fairly dry" for Dunedin so far this year.
"So by comparison, this is definitely going to be a wet day for Dunedin and it could quite likely be the wettest day you've seen so far this year."
Because South Dunedin was quite low-lying and flooded relatively easily, she said it was wise for residents to be prepared.
"Follow advice from the Civil Defence and stay alert with the latest heavy rain watches and warnings on the MetService website."
Emergency Management Otago group public information manager Erica Andrews said the organisation was keeping a very close eye on the situation, particularly following recent flooding events across the North Island.
"There's definitely a heightened awareness at the moment, given all the other impacts around the country.
"So if MetService do upgrade it to a warning, and once we get an understanding of how much rain they are predicting and what the potential impacts would be, Emergency Management will just communicate out on our social media and on our website that it's gone to a warning.
"And then in terms of any localised activity like sandbagging, that would come from Dunedin City Council."
The same storm ripped roofs off houses, knocked trees over, closed roads and cut power to thousands in the Wellington area this morning, when wind gusts reached about 190kmh on Mt Kaukau.
Air New Zealand paused all flights in and out of the capital, Napier and Palmerston North for several hours, and several flights between Dunedin and Wellington were cancelled.
Chief operating officer Alex Marren said strong wind conditions were continuing in Wellington, with forecasts of more than 60 knots (111kmh).
"Safety is paramount and we are continuing to closely monitor conditions, with winds expected to reduce later this morning when we expect to resume services.
"Teams were working around the clock to rebook affected passengers and get them to their destination safely and as quickly as possible."
