We are unable to leave our home today, as the road into town is blocked. From where we live, we can see surface flooding on the road — and it is not yet high tide — but the reason the road is blocked is because of slips. Casa Weka is on a peninsula, and the roads are cut into fairly steep hills.

But is is far better than being on the flat, or around the University.

Contractors around Dunedin are assessing multiple major slips around the city, including large slips on Portobello Rd on the Otago Peninsula and Ravenswood Rd in St Clair.

Broad Bay and Portobello are cut off from Dunedin by a large slip, and a slip has also closed Leith Valley Rd in Dunedin.

The slip on Ravenswood Rd took three cars with it and resulted in three homes being evacuated.

The Leith Valley slip is about 500m north of the Malvern and Fulton Sts and has forced mud and trees across the width of the road and brought down power lines. Contractors are on site assessing the damage.

Frasers Gully track is closed because of two significant slips. The Dunedin City Council has asked people to stay away from the area.

Civil Defence this morning advised several rural properties in the Mill Creek area in Taieri to get out of their homes due to concerns about the structure of the pump station due to high river flows.

There was potential for the pump station to fail which would inundate the area. As a precaution, police were door-knocking the affected properties and advising the occupiers to leave their properties.

About 220 homes were evacuated overnight across the region from Oamaru to Milton and inland to the Ida Valley. Around 100 of those are in Outram near Dunedin Airport.

The airport remained open on Saturday.

A large slip has closed Leith Valley Rd in Dunedin. The slip is about 500m north of the Malvern and Fulton Sts and has forced mud and trees across the width of the road and brought down power lines. Contractors are on site assessing the damage.

Frasers Gully track is closed because of two significant slips. The Dunedin City Council has asked people to stay away from the area.

At Taieri Mouth, Clutha District Council staff were observing the impact of the Taieri River high flows coinciding with high tides on Saturday afternoon. There had been no reported impact on properties.

Aerial surveys of flooding in coastal Otago have begun. There was widespread flooding and disruption across Waitaki, Dunedin and Clutha, as well as flooding and snow in parts of Central Otago.

Dunedin Civil Defence Controller Sandy Graham says motorists should avoid all non-essential travel today across the roading network, but particularly in the Taieri and Peninsula areas.

“The forecast is for rain to ease today, but a state of emergency continues and DCC staff, contractors, emergency services and Civil Defence personnel continue to respond as quickly as they can to weather-related issues based on priority,” Ms Graham said.

“The Taieri River is expected to remain very high for some time due to the heavy rain which has fallen in the headwaters.”

From yesterday morning to 7am today, about 223mm of rain was recorded at Swampy Spur, and 114mm at Riccarton Road near Mosgiel. Musselburgh had recorded about 81mm.

“People need to be aware there will be widespread debris and damage on roads, and motorists will not be able to tell the depth of floodwaters. Avoid non-essential travel today and do not go rubbernecking,” Ms Graham says.

“If anyone is travelling, please be aware that contractors have run out of flooding signs. Please drive with caution. Not every area with surface flooding is signposted. We are looking to source more signs.”