Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti residents are being warned to brace for more heavy rain overnight after a day of constant downpours.
An orange heavy rain warning was in force for the area until 9am Sunday. Thunderstorms and slips were possible, and streams and rivers could rise rapidly, MetService said.
West Coast residents were also being asked to stay home on Saturday night and limit travel to essential trips only.
Sections of State Highways 7, 6 and 73 were closed due to flooding and heavy snow.
However, the heavy rain warnings that were in force for those areas had been lifted.
The rain warnings for other parts of the South Island – including the Richmond and Bryant ranges, and the Canterbury High Country – were due to lift at 8pm Saturday.
Westland mayor Helen Lash said there was a lot of surface flooding, but no rivers had reached their banks.
Westland was through the worst of the bad weather by mid-afternoon.
However, people should stay off the roads, she said.
“When you’re travelling in the dark you don’t know where those surface flooding areas are, and you don’t pick them up until you hit them and for people with campervans that can be really serious danger.
“So really tonight I would be saying to people, if they don’t have to be on the roads please don’t.”
Flooding had also closed State Highway 63 just outside Blenheim and State Highway 60, north of Tākaka. Many roads were also impassable due to snow.
They included State Highway 6 over the Haast Pass, State Highway 94 the Milford Road, State Highway 8 to Mount Cook and State Highway 74 at Porters and Arthurs Passes.
West Coast Emergency Management said it would continue to monitor the effects of the severe weather closely into the evening.
“There is a lot of surface flooding in and around the communities, with a small number of local and state highway road closures,” group manager Claire Brown said.
“There has been a couple of precautionary self-evacuations but hopefully by this evening they will all be able to return home if it is safe to do so.
“We are still advising members of the public to keep up to date with weather information as rivers may rise quickly, surface flooding and slips are possible and driving conditions could be hazardous.”
Waka Kotahi was also urging South Islanders to avoid non-essential travel due to “treacherous conditions”.
Crews would be working to restore access to closed roads progressively from Sunday morning, it said.
“We’re asking drivers to avoid stopping on snow-affected roads, and to be aware that ice may begin to form as snow melts in the early hours of Sunday,” transport systems manager Mark Pinner said.
“Potholes may also start to appear due to the saturated ground, there are likely to be fallen trees, slips and other debris on the road surface.
“Our crews will be working hard to clear roads and restore access as soon as possible, but we need drivers to do their part by slowing down and take exta care when driving on South Island highways for the rest of the long weekend.”
A strong wind watch remained in force for Fiordland until 7am Sunday and a road snowfall warning for Lindis Pass (State Highway 8) would be in place until 6am Sunday.
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