Hundreds of Mid Canterbury residents have spent another night next to their packed bags, ready for evacuations at any second.
While the rain has eased, rivers are continuing to drain a three-day deluge, swathes of farmland is still submerged and roads remain closed across the region.
Ashburton remains cut off to the north and the south - with 19 roads either submerged or badly damaged - and overnight about 20 stranded travellers camped out at the Hakatere Marae.
The town's mayor Neil Brown estimates the cost of the damage to be in the "tens of millions of dollars".
Further south in Hinds a small number of homes have been damaged. Locals are advised to keep off the roads stay out of the floodwaters and look after their neighbours.
This morning Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor will survey the damage.
Emergency services have remained on standby in Ashburton overnight, including the defence force, and fire crews from around the region as well as Civil Defence.
