WELLINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Towns and cities across New Zealand's South Island were bracing Monday for snow and storms following two days of torrential downpours that have left one person dead.
Parts of the northern Otago region had been shut down with towns cut off and homes threatened, Radio New Zealand reported Monday.
About 130 motorists were left stranded for the day when the Kakanui River burst its banks, and the township of Kakanui was cut off, said the report.
The Otago Regional Council said up to 195 millimeters of rain has fallen on east Otago's foothills in the past few days.
State Highway 1, the main road north of the city of Dunedin was still partially closed by flooding late Monday, with only trucks and four-wheel-drives getting through.
More than 110 mm of rain fell in the quake-battered city of Christchurch in 36 hours, leaving some areas of the city under water on Monday.
The government's MetService on Monday warned of a winter storm expected later in the week.
"This active weather system will eventually pave the way for wintry and windy conditions later in the week, with the potential for significant snow in various places," MetService meteorologist Daniel Corbett said in a statement.
On Wednesday, bitterly cold Antarctic air would begin to sweep up the country, possibly bringing significant snow to the south and east of the South Island, as well as central and southern parts of the North Island.
A 63-year-old woman died Sunday when a massive mudslide demolished her house near the South Island town of Motueka after 18 hours of heavy rain.
The Bund turns into beach as the temperature reaches high
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