Most flood-damaged homes on Taieri Plains

The number of homes issued with dangerous building notices will ‘‘grow’’, after the Otago floods.

Authorities were now in a recovery mode after a region-wide state of emergency for Otago was lifted yesterday morning.

That recovery would include contacting the residents of 140 evacuated properties, as ‘‘our main focus is information gathering around people’’, Simon Pickford, of the Dunedin City Council, said.

The majority of those properties were on the Taieri Plains and many were in new subdivisions, likely to attract greater council scrutiny after the recovery stage was over, he said.

In Dunedin, several buildings affected by slips had also been issued with notices, meaning those people could not return to their property until we have ‘‘surety that it is safe to do so’’, Pickford said.

The council was also focused on clearing the 25 slips having an impact on the Otago Peninsula that have cut off the Royal Albatross Centre.

Four homes in Dunedin were issued with dangerous building notices ‘‘and that [number] will likely grow’’.

That included a property on Ravenswood Rd, and several on the Otago Peninsula.

Pickford said he flew over Henley on Sunday, and urged people to stay away from the flooded area.

He also confirmed the Sutton Bridge, near Middlemarch, which was being destroyed, was badly damaged in the flooding,

GEORGE HEARD/STUFF Ninety per cent of John Parks’ Taieri Plains farm property is covered in water after the rains of the past few days.

HAMISH MCNEILLY/STUFF Floodwater remains at a new subdivision in Outram, near Mosgiel.