New Zealand's South Island faces heavy rain for third day

WELLINGTON: Torrential rain slammed the west and north of New Zealand's South Island for the third day on Thursday August 18 and forced hundreds to evacuate their homes and cause road and school closures and land slips.

The latest rainstorms have worsened conditions in New Zealand's already sodden landscape after weeks of damp weather. Experts believe that the unseasonably wet weather is caused by a narrow stream of water vapour or an atmospheric river above the country.

Weather forecasters Metservice said a portion of the North of the South Island had received well over 300 mm of rain in the past 24 hours. It has put in place heavy rain warnings for parts of the west of the South Island and north of the North Island.

Metservice data showed Nelson city on the South Island had received 106 millimetres of rain since midday, which is well above its average rainfall for the whole of August of 80 mm.

On New Zealand's North Island, the country's largest city, Auckland, is under a heavy rain and winds alert, with minimal disruption reported so far.

More than 230 houses in Nelson, a city with a population of more than 50,000, have already been evacuated with many public facilities and roads closed, according to authorities.

There is a statement on the Nelson City Council's website that warned that continuing rain could lead to more land slips, flooding and evacuations.

Nelson's Mayor Rachel Reese told New Zealand television show AM that while the city had made it through the night without any major incidents, infrastructure was under pressure.

She said we are dealing with a lot of wastewater overflows.

On the west coast of the island, Buller District Council said in a statement people from 160 homes evacuated over the last day were able to return to their residences to assess damage. It warned further rain was expected and it was possible that they would have to evacuate again.

Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine told a news conference that we got away relatively uncathed, "right across the district, I believe we got away relatively uncathed."