However, he said the heavy rain and autumn leaf fall elevated the risk of blocked drains and ponding.
“If you can see a blocked drain and are able to sweep the leaves out of it, that is going to help reduce that ponding and overland flow issues,” Crowe said.
He was aware of several “usual areas” that had surface flooding on Sunday but said they quickly went down.
If the rain intensity continued throughout Monday, those same areas may experience drain blockage.
“Take caution with driving and avoid driving through puddles,” Crowe said.
Whanganui Civil Defence controller Catherine Dutton said there were no reports of damage across the district.
“We had undertaken advance preparations, including reviewing drainage programmes and putting resilience measures in place where possible,” Dutton said.
The Whanganui Alliance carried out pre-emptive checks of culverts and drainage networks, and had staff ready in the field and within the Emergency Operations Centre, she said.
“Although that level of response wasn’t ultimately needed, the preparation and co-ordination across teams and partner agencies is a valuable part of being ready for future events,” she said.
“We’d also like to acknowledge the community for taking the warnings seriously and being prepared - it makes a real difference.”
The council would continue to monitor conditions and respond to issues as they arose.
MetService forecaster Michael Pauley said the peak rainfall for Whanganui occurred about 5pm on Sunday, with rates of 10mm an hour at Spriggens Park.
Peak wind came about 11pm, with gusts of about 78km/h, Pauley said.
He said thunderstorms could be on the cards for Whanganui on Monday afternoon with “unstable air coming through”.
“Whanganui is quite exposed to that.”
There would be rain for much of the day but it was expected to ease into the evening, he said.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
