Nearly 800 Gore residents were last night told to be prepared to evacuate their homes near the Mataura River this morning.
That followed about 50 people being forced from their homes in Gore as flooding hit the lower South Island yesterday.
About 9.45pm, Gore District Council staff and emergency services had nearly completed door-knocking at 280 households in East Gore deemed priority two.
First thing this morning, staff could be again on residents’ streets telling them it was time to go, Gore District Council communications manager Sonia Gerken said late last night.
‘‘We will know more at midnight, that is what we anticipate at this stage, but we know the situation is extremely fluid and things are changing rapidly,’’ she said.
State Highway 1 between Gore and Mataura remained closed last night.
Residents and businesses in Mataura were also told to be prepared to evacuate.
Much of the South suffered through torrents of rain yesterday and roads became impassable, communities became isolated, and a state of emergency was declared for Southland, including Gore.
Yet, for many in Otago, today the clouds will have parted, the sun will shine, and yesterday’s drenching will be just a memory.
MetService forecaster Tuporo Marsters said Milford Sound — where 381mm fell between 4pm Monday and 4pm Tuesday — was at the centre of ‘‘a continuous westerly feed of rain’’ coming in from the Tasman Sea, which pummelled already saturated land.
But that front had reached Taranaki by 8pm yesterday.
The rainfall in the other areas was caused by a slow-moving front from the south, which was ‘‘crawling’’ over the lower half of the South Island.
Otago would be mainly fine today, and showers would return around Fiordland and Stewart Island, moving on to Southland this afternoon.
Clutha District Council took the extraordinary step of closing the Owaka Highway linking the town to the Catlins during yesterday’s severe flooding, establishing welfare centres at the Cross Recreation Centre, in Balclutha, and at the Owaka Community Centre.
The highway was one of more than 50 road closures across the Clutha district.
In West Otago, a carload of people had to be rescued from the top of their vehicle after getting into trouble in Greenvale Rd near Kelso.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said an unknown number of occupants were standing on top of the car and had to be walked out by emergency services.
The occupants were unharmed.
Outside Queenstown, houses in Gibbston were also left isolated after a mud slide yesterday morning.
Resident Ngaire Pierik, said she was terrified following the incident that left boulders, mud, trees and debris across her property.
Large poplar trees had been swept away and large boulders were strewn where the road had been.
In Gore, the Calvin Church, in Robertson St, was the gathering place for those evacuated from 15 homes and businesses in Ontario St, near the Mataura River.
Southland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group chairman Neville Cook declared a state of emergency for the Southland region, including Gore, at 2.20pm.
It followed Monday’s declaration by the Fiordland Community Board Area.
Emergency Management Southland controller Angus McKay said the declaration helped provide a co-ordinated response to the emergency, managed from the Invercargill emergency centre.
NZ Transport Agency said yesterday the Milford Road (State Highway 94) would remain closed until at least next week after the rain and ongoing moving slips.
A bridge inspection team would keep working on State Highway 94 today, agency journey manager Peter Brown said.
The agency had confirmed that some bridge repairs would need to be completed before the highway could be safely reopened, he said.
The Clutha District Council also issued a warning to farmers after receiving an updated prediction for overnight river flows in the Clutha River of 2900cumecs at midnight.
‘‘Farmers need to be prepared for possible stock removal early in the morning,’’ a council spokeswoman said.
Last night, about 8.45pm, the Dunedin City Council reported Highcliff Rd from Portobello to Pukehiki was closed because a large slip made the road impassable.
