Flooding in Dunedin - June 3rd

[RichyDunedin]

Bad flooding in Dunedin. Will be on the news for sure. Trapped at work cause the roads are shut.

[petem8nz]

I see Dunedin has been hit hard with flooding today

[kiwisk8er]

My family lives in Dunedin. My sister and her family are evacuating from Caversham, flooding all around house, drains blocked/overflowing and no safe water to drink. She's going to my parent's house, but they've also got flooding around their house and the road too.

[Nev]

Hmm… we had posts in the both the snow thread and the general thread, so thought maybe a separate thread for this event may be better…

MS have over 80mm for the city since about 5am so far…

[Ice Maiden]

it has been torrential since 5am with hardly a let up. Many streets and roads are underwater throughout the city, but the south of the city seems to be bearing the brunt currently. Southern motorway is awash and several roads closed heading south out of town. Also Three Mile hill now closed and a slip on the peninsula is causing some issues.

[Nev]

Apparently quite a bit of south Dunedin is below sea level and pumps can't cope.
MS warnings say expect another 80-100mm between midday and 2am tomorrow morning…

[einzack]

Certainly looking very wet down there. It looks quite concentrated in Dunedin itself, with Oamaru and Balclutha not getting much at all.
There is one station showing 155mm since 5am today along with several other 140's and 120's over the same time. That is a lot of rain anywhere, let alone for Dunedin which does not get rain like this particularly often (or ever?).
And to see it's forecast to continue for 8-10 hours longer must be very concerning for those living in Dunedin.

[RichyDunedin]

Made it home. Many roads in South Dunedin closed. They were evacuating quite a few houses and a rest home. Road works guy told me the water was over my bonnet at an entrance to the motorway. Kaikorai Stream had burst its banks and flooded some houses in Green Island. I've never seen that stream even over the road before.

[RichyDunedin]

Some photos I got coming home. My area is flooded off now and part of my driveway is washed away.

[Ice Maiden]

Got home from work and been for a walk, the Lindsay Creek close by is roaring and flooding into the old swimming pool in Chingford Park, I have not seen it this high in the past 20 years. The creek has come up over North Road too by the Hospice so if it continues we are cut off from town and the rain continues to fall

[RichyDunedin]

Already bet the highest daily recorded rainfall for Dunedin as of 5pm.

[Richard]

All the best for you folk in Dunedin, when is a rain radar going to be installed for the city

[Nev]

Currently up to 124mm so far in Dunedin City since 5am according to MS…

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

All the best for you folk in Dunedin, when is a rain radar going to be installed for the city

Apparently funding has been granted but with today's circumstances, it would of been quite useful as the Canterbury/Southland radars didn't pick up much from what I saw.

[Ice Maiden]

A few Photos from this afternoon, sorry about the rain drops on the photos!

[kiwisk8er]

My sister's house was under 2 inches of water at 6 pm and more by now. My parent's house had water lapping at their front door when they left. It'll be flooded by tomorrow morning. They're all squeezing into my other sister's 2 bedroom home overnight.

[RWood]

I had a recollection of a huge fall in Dunedin in April 1923 and checked - as I thought, 229mm at Musselburgh (unless there was a site shift during the period CliFlo has the data for) to 9am on 22nd. Whatever is recorded in any 24-hour period this time probably won't get that high. In May 1923, North Canterbury had a location with over 750mm in just 2 days - there's an old post in the archives here - a nearby place, Keinton Combe, had something like 68% of its average annual rainfall in 48 hours. A bad year for floods in canty-Otago!

[Janos]

A few Photos from this afternoon, sorry about the rain drops on the photos!

Thanks for the photos...ive downloaded one of them as it is the creek roaring past my step sisters house.
Although her house is not in the photo the house opposite her is.
She was evacuated so this photo will be either hopeful or distressing for her.

[Manukau heads obs]

you think of Dunedin as a hilly city
but there are low lying valley floors I guess, yes?

[spwill]

you think of Dunedin as a hilly city
but there are low lying valley floors I guess, yes?

A big area around South Dunedin is flat and low lying as well as the Taieri plains.
MS has Dunedin on 164mm yesterday and the Airport out on the Taieri 103.6mm

[Ice Maiden]

HI Brian, yes there are several valleys in Dunedin, the photos where from Northeast Valley which the old main road out of the town runs through towards the highest hill in the area Mt Cargill. The Lindsay Creek in the photos originates from Mt Cargill. The valley is narrow and the walls are quite steep being home to Baldwin Street "the Worlds steepest street" actually just across the road from photo 3 & 4. - update this morning, light rain, the creek has dropped, though it is still roaring.

[Nev]

I had a recollection of a huge fall in Dunedin in April 1923 and checked - as I thought, 229mm at Musselburgh (unless there was a site shift during the period CliFlo has the data for) to 9am on 22nd. Whatever is recorded in any 24-hour period this time probably won't get that high. In May 1923, North Canterbury had a location with over 750mm in just 2 days - there's an old post in the archives here - a nearby place, Keinton Combe, had something like 68% of its average annual rainfall in 48 hours. A bad year for floods in canty-Otago!

MS's Dunedin City site shows 175.4mm for the 24 hrs to 4am this morning. I'll be interesting to see what Musselburgh recorded. I think its June monthly record is 195.4mm set in 1980, 2nd highest is 171.2 in 2013.

[RWood]

I had a recollection of a huge fall in Dunedin in April 1923 and checked - as I thought, 229mm at Musselburgh (unless there was a site shift during the period CliFlo has the data for) to 9am on 22nd. Whatever is recorded in any 24-hour period this time probably won't get that high. In May 1923, North Canterbury had a location with over 750mm in just 2 days - there's an old post in the archives here - a nearby place, Keinton Combe, had something like 68% of its average annual rainfall in 48 hours. A bad year for floods in canty-Otago!

MS's Dunedin City site shows 175.4mm for the 24 hrs to 4am this morning. I'll be interesting to see what Musselburgh recorded. I think its June monthly record is 195.4mm set in 1980, 2nd highest is 171.2 in 2013.

I have the monthly totals for the Gardens and Musselburgh to 2011 (started 1913 & 1918 resp.). Not surprisingly the wettest month at Musselburgh was April 1923 with 294.2mm; Gardens had 296.6mm in April 1968.

Kelburn's "best" is a modest 152.4mm (6.00") in Dec 1939, though that month had a total of about 386mm thanks to another massive fall of 4.84" (123mm) during the month. In the main event there was a convergence line over about Baring Head and I can recall a report stating (correctly?) that about 400mm fell there.

[Manukau heads obs]

is this rain band now getting rain into north canterbury , that needs it?

[Nev]

MS's Dunedin City site shows 175.4mm for the 24 hrs to 4am this morning. I'll be interesting to see what Musselburgh recorded. I think its June monthly record is 195.4mm set in 1980, 2nd highest is 171.2 in 2013.

Just an update. It would appear that Musselburgh only recorded 142.0mm for the same 24 hrs to 4am yesterday. However, during the same 24 hrs a PWS in Green Island recorded 228mm and a Vantage Pro2 in Mosgiel recorded 238mm.