Workers are out at the most sodden areas of the South Island, trying to get communication lines back up and running

Chorus has technicians laying a temporary fibre cable at Arundel to get the area online, before working on a permanent fix.

It's unclear how long it will take to repair a section of damaged fibre just south - at the Rangitata bridge, with water still flowing over the road.

Three-thousand homes and businesses in Ashburton and Geraldine are without broadband and phone - it's hoped they'll be back online later today.

And on the West Coast, the local electricity provider is repairing a number of power and communication lines taken out by a land slip.