Dunedin's heavy rain warning ended three hours ago, but rivers in the city still remain high and a number of roads are still closed throughout the South Island as floodwaters slowly recede following record-breaking rainfall.
The Water of Leith raged right on residents' doorsteps, including those of Otago University student Sophie Wall.
"It was kind of scary, especially because my room is close to the river."
Late last night, Wallace was answering the door to the police, asking her and 35 other flats to evacuate.
"It looks like it's about a metre away from getting onto our property so it's quite nerve-wracking," Wallace told Newshub.
"We'd rather just leave now… than wake up and go for a swim at 3am," said one evacuee.
"A few boys have been kind enough to lend us a couch and bed… can't complain at all. Got a roof. That will do the job," said fellow evacuee Jack Bonisch.
One-hundred and 40 millimetres of rain fell, prompting 120 call-outs for flood damage.
"Later on yesterday things were a bit touch and go. I think we were lucky to see the rain ease off; it did feel like we dodged a bullet overnight," said Dunedin's Mayor Aaron Hawkins.
There was still enough water to block roads and increase traffic on the Leith; at one point on Wednesday, 28 roads were closed across the city.
Traffic piled up on a section of State Highway 1 between Palmerston and Dunedin.
"Probably about half an hour so far and probably a lot longer," said one person.
"I don't feel like sitting here all day."
And floodwaters could still rise higher.
"One of the guys came back before and they said it'd be over the bonnet so it's getting up there. It's the first time I've seen it across the road here," said one person.
Further north in Timaru it was very much the same, the rain breaking its monthly record with 194 millimetres so far.
"We've had a few cars go off the road last night and this morning so just get people to stay off the road," said Senior Constable Craig Hedges.
In Christchurch, the rain had stopped by morning, but 267 millimetres have fallen in the Garden City in the last 24 hours - that's more than a month's worth.
The road near the Heathcote River is still closed and is slowly receding; if residents here aren't used to it, they're certainly getting sick of it - especially when the only way home is climbing over the neighbours' fence.
"It does highlight continually putting in those catchment ponds and swales and maybe stopbanks and just investing in good quality infrastructure," Christchurch resident Simon Brouwer said.
And climate change means this could become the new normal.
"It's really hard to pin down one event to climate change but bear in mind that projections of climate change go into the future; we can expect to see more of these events," a MetService spokesperson said.
The previous monthly rainfall record stood for almost 45 years, this one could be broken much sooner.
