July flooding - South Island

Widespread flooding of Taieri Plain - the second worst on record. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

This is what the Taieri River at Outram Bridge looked like earlier this morning, as Otago Regional Council staff began their aerial reconnaissance. Photo: Otago Regional Council

Otago Regional Council staff sandbag the most vulnerable area around the Mill Creek pump station as police evacuate the remaining residents from Mill Creek subdivision. Photo: Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management

Flooding at Dunedin airport. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Riverlaw Terrace and Eastern Terrace by Palatine Terrace have become submerged. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham

Joanne Bos' home on the corner of Hume Street and Eastern Tce is now surrounded by water. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham

A large slip threatens houses in Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

A retaining wall has collapsed due to rainfall on Douglas St in Highfield, Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Heathcote River burst its banks and is flooding some properties bordering Eastern Terrace, Christchurch. Photo: Sean Scanlon

Flooding in Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Kowai river mouth, Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Logan Church

Ashburton River. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

On the road from Ashburton to Rakaia. Photo: Shelley Burke

Rakaia Gorge. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Flooded garlic field at Rakaia. "We should have planted rice, not garlic." Photo: Wendy Atkinson

Oamuru's Centennial Park underwater. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Flooding in Oamuru. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Flooding near the Resource Recovery park. Photo: Altitude Surveying

Photo: Altitude Surveying

Otago Harbour. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A digger clears one of the slips on Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Portobello Road. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Otago Peninsula man Greg Ryder is digging gravel out of a small lake, trying clear the drain which is flooding the road. He says he should be able to find it after living here for 25 years but there is just so much water and gravel, he can't locate it. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

This driveway off Portobello Road has become a stream. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

The Dunedin Civil Defence emergency operations centre. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Looking over Opoho Hill, Dunedin. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A torrent of mud is coming from a driveway on corner of Ravenswood Road and Cliffs Road, St Clair. Police have evacuated a number of houses around a bank that is at risk of collapse. Photo: Ian Telfer

Heavy rain has caused a slip across the railway line at Hampden. Photo: NZ Police

The rain has eased, allowing a clearer view of widespread flooding of the Taieri Plain. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

The Taieri Plain. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

A worried Christine Bridgman returns after a night a way to check on her Riverlaw terrace home in Christchurch, but the street outside her house is fully flooded. Photo / Rachel Graham

Seven Mile Road near Oamaru has had some significant patches of flooding. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

A car is submerged on Allanton Road, Outram after the driver was a bit overconfident. Photo / Ian Telfer

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

A car is submerged on Allanton Road, Outram after the driver was a bit overconfident. Photo / Ian Telfer

Flooding at Dunedin Airport. Photo / Ian Telfer

Heather and Daryl Whistons' property on Kaik Rd near Oamaru has been deluged by the floodwaters. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King

Duane Burgess heads back into the floodwaters to deliver some medication to a friend, whose house on Riverlaw Terrace is now surrounded with water. Photo / Rachel Graham