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Several roads are closed and warnings are in places on many others as the South Island continues to feel the effects of the wild weather that whipped through yesterday.

While conditions have eased in most places this morning, there is flooding on some stretches of highway and a raft of other roads.

Across both Otago and Canterbury, trees were felled by gale gusts, in many cases across highways and other roads.

Drivers in inland Canterbury were warned of dust clouds affecting visibility, while lightning storms lashed Queenstown and Wanaka, with heavy rain also affecting Alexandra.

Flooding affected some roads in Mackenzie Country last night.

Power was also restored overnight to hundreds of homes in Canterbury after the strong gusts caused power outages to thousands of homes on Monday.

Almost 600 homes in central and rural Canterbury, mostly around Hororata, were without power overnight.

As of 6am today, all but 84 had power restored.

SH 7 HANMER TURNOFF TO SPRINGS JUNCTION, WEST COAST – 10:45AM A strong winds warning is currently in place for the Lewis Pass. Please take extra care throughout the day, especially if you are in a lighter or high-sided vehicle, or riding a motorcycle. ^FP pic.twitter.com/edZ1QbSEYQ— Waka Kotahi NZTA Canterbury & West Coast (@WakaKotahiCWC) July 18, 2022

SH 7 HANMER TURNOFF TO SPRINGS JUNCTION, WEST COAST – 10:45AM A strong winds warning is currently in place for the Lewis Pass. Please take extra care throughout the day, especially if you are in a lighter or high-sided vehicle, or riding a motorcycle. ^FP pic.twitter.com/edZ1QbSEYQ

The severe weather is set to continue on Tuesday morning, with heavy rain and severe gale force wind warnings from MetService in place until Tuesday afternoon.

A strong wind warning is currently in place for the Lewis Pass. 

RNZ is reporting that some properties in the Waitaki district were evacuated overnight, including the Top 10 Holiday Park in Omarama. 

State Highway 83 from Omarama to Kurow is also closed due to to flooding, and Waka Kotahi NZTA says the Lindis Pass (SH8), Haast Pass (SH6), and the Milford Road (SH94) are also closed. 

Motorists are advised to take care on stretches of SH6 around Queenstown owing to flooding and rockfalls.

The Central Otago District Council has several road closures in force in the Maniototo and urges drivers to watch out for surface flooding.

The closures today come after emergency services were kept busy yesterday by a spate of wild weather which prompted callouts across the South Island.

Photo: Facebook / Omarama Volunteer Fire Brigade Weather warnings issued by the MetService on Sunday were borne out as severe winds caused aircraft to be turned around in flight yesterday.

Skifields across the South Island, including Cardrona and Treble Cone, were forced to close for the day due to strong winds and poor visibility.

In the Young Valley catchment, near Wanaka, the Department of Conservation issued a Code Red warning and closed the area, due to fears of a potential dam burst.

The Haast Pass was closed due to fallen trees, as was State Highway94 because of the risk of avalanches.

Wind gusts of 107kmh were recorded by the MetService at Dunedin Airport yesterday morning.

Airport business development general manager Megan Crawford said eight arrivals and eight departures had been cancelled by late afternoon, with another three departures and four arrivals still to have their status confirmed.

The high winds damaged a fence, window and a billboard at the airport, Ms Crawford said.

Brockville resident Anne Smither was also affected by high winds.

Her trampoline had been staked to ground but she saw it go flying towards a neighbour’s house.

Worried it would land on their car, she tried to pull it back from the adjacent property.

A gust of wind caught it and she was hit on the head and her back was "a wee bit" sore.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Dunedin City Station Senior Station Officer Mark Leonard said firefighters had been busy with lots of calls, particularly about damage to roofing, powerlines and trees, caused by the "incredibly strong" winds.

A shipping container lies at a precarious angle behind the Warren Lewis fishing wharf at Port Chalmers yesterday. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said a big gust of wind had resulted in some containers falling over about 3pm.

No-one had been hurt, but it had caused a bit of a mess and the clean-up operation would begin today, Mr Winders said.

The wild weather had also affected the ability of pilot boats to operate safely and bring larger vessels into port. However, the impact had been minimal as there had been a light shipping schedule, he said.

A Dunedin City Council spokesman said contractors were kept busy clearing fallen trees, branches and debris.

A native kanuka tree was blown over at the Dunedin Botanic Garden and there was some wind damage to the printed scrim covering the Dunedin Railway Station, which would be repaired, the spokesman said.

The council had eight road closure notices in effect last night, largely due to blockages caused by wind.

A protected red beech tree which blew down due to high winds in Highgate near Columba College, in Dunedin, yesterday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Highgate resident Maurice Mitchell said the first he knew about the protected red beech tree in his front yard falling down was when a firefighter knocked on his door.

The tree caused damage to a shed and blocked a lane in Highgate.

There was a strong smell of gas in the area, which he believed was due to an old gas line running on the side of the road, which emergency services were working to locate, he said.

- Oscar.Francis@odt.co.nz and Star News

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