The weather event included a lightning bolt which struck the Frankton grid exit point just before 7am and knocked out power to more than 12,000 Queenstown residents.
The bolt was said to have made buildings move.
The slip at Boundary Creek was caused by a culvert washed out by heavy rainfall and continues to force the closure of Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council earlier said the road was likely to be closed all yesterday as the slip was large with a lot of debris, however it remained closed last night.
The council said that despite hard work to clear a lane through the slip, a severe blockage of the culvert meant a significant amount of water and debris continued to run across the road.
"In addition there’s a lot of material along the potential ‘cleared’ route which has a risk of slumping on to any vehicles passing through, and the forecast is for more heavy rain."
In response to the continued road closure, local operators Queenstown Water Taxis, Heli Glenorchy, Glenorchy Air and Queenstown Fishing offered alternative transport options to those needing to get in or out of Glenorchy, and the council was working with Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management and the Department of Conservation to assess community needs.
In the large thunderstorm, there were nine lighting strikes in the Queenstown area and by 4pm yesterday the region had received 14mm of rain in the previous 24 hours, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said.
"The important thing to note is 6.2[mm] of that fell in the space of an hour up to 8am, which was around the time that the thunderstorms passed over.
"These aren’t huge amounts but it just goes to show you don’t need a whole lot of rain or that many lightning strikes to cause issues."
One of the lightning strikes hit the Frankton grid exit point, cutting power to more than 12,000 residents across Queenstown, Glenorchy, Frankton and parts of Arrowtown.
OC Health Clubs owner Chaz Monaghan was running an exercise session with 24 people at Five Mile Shopping Centre when, as soon as he hit the timer to start the session, the bolt struck.
"We saw this huge flash and the boom was hectic, we literally felt it in the building.
"It didn’t stop us, we ended up putting our phone lights on, put them upside down, and kept exercising for a little while."
In a statement shortly after 10.30am yesterday, Aurora Energy said there were still 314 customers in the Frankton area awaiting power, but in a subsequent update it said power had been restored to all users.
Waka Kotahi advised the Milford Road (State Highway 94) had also been temporarily closed between Cascade Creek Bridge and The Divide Shelter due to a slip. It was reopened shortly afterwards.
Waka Kotahi warned heavy rainfall could trigger further slip activity and drivers should take extra care, as the traffic control remained in place.
