WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) —  Hundreds of people were evacuated and a state of emergency declared in tourist areas in parts of New Zealand’s South Island on Wednesday after three days of torrential rain. Television pictures showed some shops in the mountain resort town of Queenstown were thigh deep in water.

Up To 350 People were ordered out of about 200 low-lying properties along the Clutha River in mountainous central Otago district, including in the towns of Alexandra and Roxburgh where a state of civil emergency was declared. Flood waters lapped the roofs of some single-story buildings.
 
Central Otago District Council spokesman Martin McPherson said the waters were not expected to peak till Thursday morning and a further 150 families were on stand-by to evacuate.  “It’s a creeping flood. It’s taking its time coming in so we have the time to warn people so that we can evacuate them. We don’t have a panic situation or a dramatic influx of water,” he told state-run Television New Zealand.