Previous storms have weakened the Peninsula Road stop bank, and Marlborough Civil Defence is asking 70 households in Spring Creek to evacuate by 9am and stay away till 5pm.
As the weather system moves up the country, there are severe thunderstorm watches for Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
Strong winds cancelled 46 domestic flights at Auckland Airport on Thursday.
Some parts of the West Coast had already recorded 800mm of rain by Thursday evening, with more set to come before the orange level heavy rain warning expires on Friday.
The possibility of a red warning for Westland has been removed but significant rain is still forecast for the area south of Hokitika.
Hokitika and Waiho Rivers have peaked over their warning levels and are being closely monitored by emergency officials.
In the South Island, heavy rain watches are in place for parts of Tasman, the Bryant Range, inland Marlborough west of Blenheim and north of the Awatere River, Buller, Westland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
There is also a chance of snow on the roads on Lindis Pass SH8, Crown Range Road and Milford Road SH94.
RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster, providing vital information and updates as they come to hand.
Check out the frequencies here.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) advises that in times of crisis or civil defence emergency a battery powered radio or a car radio remain essential lifelines if power is out and other forms of communication are unavailable.