King tides pass safely as Cyclone Fehi clean-up continues

What you need to know:
• The 115 trapped tourists near Fox Glacier are expected to be rescued sometime today.
• Dunedin's state of emergency has been lifted but Buller's is still in place as the clean-up begins.
• Although the storm has eased for most of the country some areas will still experience heavy rain and strong winds throughout the day.
• King tides are causing problems in low-lying areas.

Much of the country have spent the morning assessing the damage left by ex-Cyclone Fehi but raincoats and umbrellas should not be hung up as heavy rain continues to affect parts of the country.

Civil Defence said Dunedin's state of emergency was lifted at 8.30 this morning, however the Emergency Operations Centre remains active as the recovery from yesterday's flooding gets under way.

Hauraki District Council's group manager of planning and environmental services Peter Thom said the area fared well as two king tides came and went.

"Because we didn't have the combination of strong winds from the north and low air pressure to create the strong surge, we just had the king tide basically."

The West Coast of the South Island was hit particularly hard yesterday leaving locals "blown away" by how much damage was done.

Felled trees and slips blocked parts of State Highway 6, stranding 115 motorists near Fox Glacier.

A further 600 tourists - some with medical issues - are stranded in Haast, blocked by a 100m long 9m high slip at Douglas Bluff south of Haast.

Westland Mayor Bruce Smith said they were expecting the large volumes of rain, but the wind caught them by surprise.

He said the stranded motorists had been contacted and a helicopter is assessing roads in Franz Josef and Fox Glacier and bringing in a ground crew to assess how to get stranded tourists out.

"Police are in charge of that and are onto it - they started very early this morning," he told Newstalk ZB.

"There are lots of logs down on the state highway, power down in lots of places. It will be a big clean-up, there is a huge mess mainly from the wind and tide.

"We are into clean-up mode, taking care of displaced people, and checking those who lost property got to safety.

Flooding caused by king tides and storms in Nelson. Photo / Tim Cuff

"Emergency response teams working all night have done a fantastic job."

The council said those stranded in Haast were being assessed.

NZ Transport Agency and its contractors are working on the slip.

Weather on the West Coast is expected to clear this afternoon, and much more settled and dry conditions are forecast tomorrow.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull told Newstalk ZB the weather had settled overnight.

More than 108mm of rain fell in the city yesterday and a state of emergency was declared after 800 homes were at risk of being inundated with sewage contaminated flood water.

Today, emergency services were checking on the 50 or so houses that had been affected by flooding.

"There has not been a huge amount of damage to public infrastructure, but those 50 homes will be badly affected. A major rest home had to be evacuated as well."

Most roads around the city have now reopened.

Yesterday's storm surge and king tide caused a sewage pump failure in Nelson,​ leading to an overflow of untreated sewage and stormwater contaminants into Nelson Haven and Waimea Estuary.

Sea pours over the road at Kaiteriteri in the Tasman Region. Photo / Anne Gibson

Nelson City Council is advising the public not to swim or have contact with the water in those areas, including Tahunanui Beach.

Today, the council is focusing on cleaning up and assessing damage, while a water contact ban in place for the Nelson Haven and Waimea Estuary.

Another king tide is expected in the area around midday so people are being advised to avoid parking, walking or cycling in areas of the city prone to tidal flooding.

The wettest place in New Zealand yesterday was recorded in Milford Sound, with 154.8 mm of rainfall, followed by Dunedin with 109.6 mm.

The windiest place was Wellington, with maximum gusts of 137 km/h, followed by Kaikoura with maximum gusts of 111 km/h.

Fire and Emergency NZ said it had more than 228 weather-related calls across the country yesterday, 210 of which were in the South Island.

Another 260 calls were for structure and vegetation fires, medical emergencies, and road crashes.

Slips on Punakaiki Rd, SH 6, in Punakaiki. Photo / Sophie Allan

Most schools opened as normal this morning, after 26 schools were closed yesterday - 13 on the West Coast and 13 in Otago, and eight preschools.

The Ministry of Education advised parents to keep in contact with schools and early learning centres.

Jetstar said there had been no weather-related disruptions this morning although 10 flights were cancelled because of the weather in Nelson, New Plymouth, Queenstown and Wellington yesterday.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan said remnants of the storm would hover around both islands today, and heavy rain would still affect parts of the West Coast and Nelson ranges.

"The worst is definitely over now across the whole country and we will see a gradual improvement in a number of areas, with the exception of maybe central New Zealand," he said.

Duncan said Kiwis would have to wait another week to get back into that feel of summer.

"Places like Auckland have showers in the forecast, some of them could be quite heavy, and there will be some areas with downpours and showers, while other areas are sunny and dry."

Duncan said the heat wave was definitely over for now, with parts of the lower South Island dropping to temperatures of 6C and 7C, "which is a very dramatic drop from having highs in the late 30s".

"In fact it is snowing on the ranges of ski fields in Queenstown," he said.

But we shouldn't be in a hurry to hang up our rain jackets: another tropical is storm is looming.

"By the end of next week we will be looking at another tropical low," Duncan said.

"It is not necessarily going to be a storm, but there are signs that there are going to be tropical cyclones to the north of the country.

"We are certainly not finished yet with this La Nina weather pattern."