A MetService spokesman said 10.8mm of rain fell between 9pm and midnight on Thursday.
Southern District Health Board surgical services general manager Janine Cochrane said the flooding affected four operating theatres and corridors in the hospital.
‘‘Around 10pm, staff were alerted to flooding in the theatre complex from water coming through the ceiling.
‘‘This affected four out of nine operating theatres.’’
Dr Cochrane said the leak was believed to have been caused by a plastic bag, which had blown on to the hospital roof and covered a drainage duct.
The water damage had prompted the hospital to postpone 10 surgical procedures.
Work was now being carried out to clean the theatres and ‘‘remediate’’ the problem. It was hoped the theatres would be operational again on Monday, she said.
‘‘We apologise to those patients and their whanau for the inconvenience caused by this unexpected incident.
‘‘Patients affected by this will be contacted directly, to schedule another surgery date,’’ she said.
