Flooding in Allenton, Ashburton.
© JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Flooding in Allenton, Ashburton.
A state of emergency has been declared in Dunedin, Timaru, Waitaki and the wider Otago region, and many residents are leaving their homes with river levels continuing to rise "significantly".

About 100 homes were evacuated in Outram, a rural town west of Dunedin, in the early hours of Saturday morning as water flowed into the township.

Civil Defence said the evacuations impacted on "effectively everything below Orme St", and that evacuations in the rest of Outram may follow.

"It is not safe to drive on roads in and out of Outram. As a result, residents in these streets are being moved to higher ground," Civil Defence said in a statement.



Flooding on Evans St in Timaru
© DOUG FIELDFlooding on Evans St in Timaru
The school hall and community hall on the main street were open for residents needing somewhere to go. People were asked to drive to those locations, not walk as the floodwaters may be contaminated.

An army unimog is available to take people at the halls from lower Outram to the Mosgiel information centre, where residents can arrange to stay with family or friends, or Civil Defence can organise accommodation. Anyone leaving their home is asked to take warm clothes, bedding and pets with them.

Residents in Mosgiel were also forced from their homes as the Taieri River rose on Friday night.

Dunedin Civil Defence controller Sue Bidrose said evacuations had occurred in the Silver Stream/Gordon Rd spillway area. Henley residents to had also been encouraged to evacuate, and most had done so by 11.30pm after search and rescue went door-to-door the area.

Bidrose said modelling indicated that the Taieri River may reach flows among the highest on record, and residents in the lower Taieri ponding area were being asked to self-evacuate.

Some 5000 sandbags had been deployed in Dunedin since 9am on Friday.

Earlier, Timaru Civil Defence emergency operations centre warned people, particularly those in flood prone areas, to make preparations in case they had to evacuate at short notice.

Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher said the flooding in that area was the worst he had seen in 10 years but there were no current plans to declare a state of emergency.

Several people had left their homes, Kircher said.

In Oamaru, a bank collapsed on a house on Itchen St, but a fire service spokesman said the family members were uninjured.

SOLDIERS CALLED IN

Emergency services were struggling to cope with the amount of weather-related call-outs as floodwaters continued to rise during the storm.

Flood water filled the petrol station forecourt.
© DOUG FIELDFlood water filled the petrol station forecourt.
The New Zealand Defence Force has sent nine trucks, an ambulance and about 20 soldiers to help tackle the floods in South Canterbury and Otago. At least 60 more were on standby.

The army was also able to help transport a child from Timaru to Dunedin Hospital's intensive care unit..

RAIN BREAKS RECORDS

In Oamaru, 57.6mm of rain fell between 9am and 5pm, a record for a single day in July.
Canterbury, north of the Rakaia River, was expected to get 100-150mm of rainfall over the course of the day, while South Canterbury and North Otago were expected to get 140-180mm.

Chris Hawker, of Otago Civil Defence, urged rubber-neckers to stay away from any flooded areas, as their vehicles could cause bow waves to hit affected properties.

The rain wasn't enough to deter Cameron King from jumping on his scooter.
© MYTCHALL BRANSGROVEThe rain wasn't enough to deter Cameron King from jumping on his scooter.
"If you think it is a really good idea to go out in your 4WD and drive quickly down a road that is flooded because you have a 4WD and you can; please stay at home."

Emergency services were expecting a "long night" with more rain likely, Fire Service spokesman Riwai Grace said.

Grace said there had been 80-90 call outs across Canterbury since 9am, and the worst of the weather was heading south.

Saltwater Creek, at the southern boundary of Timaru, burst its banks.
© Stu OldhamSaltwater Creek, at the southern boundary of Timaru, burst its banks.
TRAPPED IN CARS

Three people have escaped a car caught in floodwaters near Darfield, in mid Canterbury.

A Fire Service spokesman said emergency services said one person had made it to the bank by Greendale Rd, and emergency services were working to rescue the other two at 11.45pm.

"Two people had to sort of climb into a tree to escape it," he said.

"It sounds like it's going pretty well."

Earlier, Rakaia Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Tryone Burrowes said vehicles became trapped in floodwaters with people inside, at Thompsons Track near Rakaia in Canterbury on Friday afternoon.

Up to 10 cars had to be pulled from floodwaters, with waves breaking over the bonnet of smaller cars.

Cilla McGirr was trying to get home to Methven when her Nissan hatchback became stuck on Thompsons Rd.

"Normally I go down Pannetts Rd and I could see there was a bit of water along there and I thought this was the better bet," she said.

McGirr said she managed to get through minor flooding on State Highway 1 earlier, but the water on the rural road was too high. "It got deeper and deeper and it flooded the car."

Members of the Lauriston volunteer fire brigade, as well as several private tow companies, helped pull stranded motorists from the flood.

DON'T DRIVE, POLICE SAY

Otago police urged people to stay indoors and keep off the roads with widespread flooding causing chaos across the region.

"We need people to heed our advice and stay off the roads," Acting Senior Sergeant Sam Ramsay said.

"Anyone driving in these conditions is putting themselves at risk.

Flowing water was seen across roads in the Canterbury Plains.
© SARAH ROBERTSFlowing water was seen across roads in the Canterbury Plains.
"If you stay inside you'll not only be dry and warm, but you'll be keeping yourself safe.

"If you live in an area that could be at risk of flooding, please be prepared to evacuate and follow the advice of any officials."

ROAD CLOSURES

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) closed State Highway 1 between Pukeuri, about 9km north of Oamaru, and Morven, South Canterbury. Journey manager Lee Wright said it was "a major event".

"There are no safe detour routes off [SH1] because they are all significantly flooded as well. We're really advising anyone travelling south of Christchurch to delay their journey."

SH1 is also now closed at Oamaru Creek Bridge in Otago, and to all southbound traffic from the intersection of Browns Road, Dunsandel to the township of Timaru, and in Timaru between Jellicoe Street and Hobbs Street, Christchurch Transport Operations Centre said.

The highway is also shut between Balclutha and Milton because of severe flooding and slips are coming down in a number of other places.

Wright said the NZTA was strongly advising "all non-essential travel" be avoided while parts of the SH1 remained flooded.

"It's really treacherous," she said. "The rivers are still quite high around the Dunsandel-Bankside area, and it's still kind of rising so that's why we're a bit worried."

Otago Civil Defence group controller Chris Hawker said people needed to stay off the roads.

"Anyone driving in these conditions is putting themselves at risk and having significant adverse effects on properties they are driving past," he said.

SH79 between Fairlie and Geraldine, SH77 between Ashburton and Methven, SH83 between Pukeuri and Peebles and Pukeuri and Duntroon, SH82 between Waimate and Kurrow, and SH85 between Omakau and Idaburn were also closed.

A large slip blocked the southbound lane of Dunedin Port Chalmers Rd at Pride Corner, and a police spokeswoman said a power pole was at a 30 degree angle.

She said there had been a lot of slips in the South Island, "particularly between Oamaru and the wider Otago coastal area".

Further north, slips and rockfalls had caused the closure of the inland route up the South Island from Christchurch to Picton - route 70 - from Waiau to Peketa. It will remain closed until at least 9am on Saturday.