Flood-affected parts of South Island warned to brace for more rain later this week

December 9, 2019

NIWA’s Chris Brandolino says more rain is forecast for three days, starting December 12.

More rain is expected towards the end of this week, especially in areas recently hit by flooding caused by heavy rain.

Parts of the country, especially Otago and the West Coast, were hit by the storm which caused flooding, fallen trees, road closures and power outages last week.

Much of the island received three-times December's average monthly rainfall by December 8. Some worse hit areas included Milford Sound, Franz Joseph, Mt Cook, Queenstown and Wanaka.

Major flooding of the Rangitata River has closed State Highway 1 at Rangitata in Canterbury and a state of emergency remains in place for Timaru.

Emergency crews are on standby in case Lakes Wanaka and Wakatipu flood.

This morning NIWA meteorologist Chris Brandalino told TVNZ 1's Breakfast there will be "a break in the action" over the next few days, but it's not expected to last.

"Unfortunately as we get to Thursday, Friday and Saturday the risk for rain, kind of in the same areas starts to increase, particularly for the weekend so we're going to have to watch the weekend for another round of heavy weather," he said.

The weather is not expected to be as intense, but with rivers already at high levels and ground already saturated the impact of any rain could lead to more flooding.

"These extreme rainfall events are in line with our expectations for the coming decades. Big weather events have always happened, but what happens is when they occur naturally they're accentuated because the earth is warmer."

More wet weather is forecast for Central Otago today, December 5.

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