Dunedin flooded in 20min downpour

Flash flooding which ripped through Dunedin last evening left retailers and emergency services mopping up through the night.

The damage bill is expected to climb into the millions of dollars.

Scores of businesses and homes were flooded as up to 34mm of rain was dumped on the city in just 20 minutes.

The violent storm hit just before 6pm, and within 15 minutes shops and roads were under knee-deep water and fire brigades were struggling to respond.

By 7.30pm the flooding calls had reached 52, and by 9.30pm firefighters were working their way through a backlog of more than 100 calls.

Most of the flooding had receded within an hour of the storm, leaving people to mop up their shops, homes, clubs and roads.

Such was the ferocity of the water, roads were ripped in the central city and shop doors were burst open by its force.

For many retailers, it was a case of deja vu. This is the second time in three years torrential rain has caused drains in George St to overflow, leaving water lapping up and under store doorways.

Retailers mopping floors and moving saturated stock, said yesterday's flash flood was far more destructive than the one that hit at 5.50pm on January 17, 2002.

Sue Brown, the owner of Trents Leather Shop, estimated her stock losses at $40,000. She said the Dunedin City Council needed to take urgent action to improve drainage.

Several shoppers along George St stayed to help staff, including German tourist Rainer Hodapp, who stayed for about an hour.

The Octagon and the Exchange were also badly hit, and water had surged down Lower Rattray St, at times about a metre deep.

A "flood sale" sign was already up in the window of the Sanctuary bookshop last night, with hundreds of books damaged.

At Fisher and Paykel's Taieri plant, a large gutter in the centre of the factory gave way under the weight of water.

Manager Chris Staynes said squeegees and brooms were being used to clear water and he hoped damage would be limited and the plant would be back to normal operations today.

Five underground substations in central Dunedin were flooded and various lines were down in the suburbs. A Delta Utility Services spokesman said power was cut to 236 consumers.

There were manhole covers being blown from the street under the pressure of water rushing through the drains.

Dunedin City Council water and waste services manager Darrel Robinson said that in terms of a short-term rain event, the downpour was reasonably significant.

"We've had worse . . . but it's still been quite a wake-up call."

All available staff were called in to help, including some contractors.

Several properties in South and Central Dunedin were flooded, and there was extensive surface flooding in Mosgiel.

Jae Services Dunedin manager Raewyn O'Sullivan said she could not even estimate how many calls the carpet cleaning business had received.

The phones had started ringing solidly at 6pm and were still going at 10.30pm.

From the number and nature of the calls, she suspected the flash floods would be worse than 2001, and she was procuring cleaning equipment from around the South Island to help out.

Police Sergeant Kelvin Lloyd said police were stretched dealing with reports of rock falls, traffic lights not working and flooding.

Fulton Home and Hospital on Hillside Rd moved dementia patients from their flooded units to alternative rooms, manager Robyn McCormick said.

A drain overflowed and pumps had failed to handle the excess water, she said.

- NZPA