Incredible footage shows water creeping up the side of a campervan stuck in the middle of the swamped Hokitika River.
Westland District Council mayor Bruce Smith posted a video on Facebook of the campervan parked on an island in the middle of the river.
"[I'm] on the Hokitika bridge at the present time. That's a campervan over there, parked on the island, the waters' now up to the door handles. She's going pretty well," he says.
"We will have to hope not too many whitebaiters are out there on the middle island."
The river is bank to bank, Mr Smith says.
- Weather chaos: Flooding and flights grounded
- South Island to be battered by severe weather
- Tornado spotted tearing through Waikato field
- Crazy spring snow, tourists relish in the wintry weather
West Coast authorities are on high alert as severe weather batters the region.
State Highway 6 between Fox Glacier to Hokitika has been closed due to flooding.
Westland High School has closed after instruction from Civil Defence and parents have been advised to pick up their children from all other schools.
In a post on Facebook, Westland High School advised parents to pick up their children.
West Coast Civil Defence public information manager Andy Thompson says pupils at South Westland Area School that cannot be picked up by their parents will be accommodated in Harihari overnight.
A welfare centre has been set up in Harihari for tourists and locals who need support.
MetService is predicting heavy rain and gale force winds for much of the South Island on Thursday.
Between 200 and 250mm of rain could accumulate on the main divide. Peak intensities could see between 25 to 35mm of rain falling per hour.
People are advised to keep an eye out for slips and flooding caused by the exceptional amounts of rain.
In addition, northwest gales are expected to batter the Canterbury High Country. A strong wind warning is in place where gusts could exceed 150km/h in exposed places.
There are also road snow warnings in place for much of the major South Island passes including the Porters Pass, Lindis Pass, Arthurs Pass and The Crown Range.
Between five and 10cms of snow could accumulate on some of the passes early on Friday morning, MetService says.
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