A Civil Defence controller for Nelson Tasman has urged residents to be cautious and vigilant of their surroundings after this weekend's flooding.

Waters are receding, but the region remains under a state of emergency.

Controller Rob Smith advised people to be careful as they continued clearing up.

Police said a person cleaning up died after being hit by a falling tree. A Civil Defence information hub was open in Motueka to provide any assistance, he added.

Civil Defence Minister Mark Mitchell will be surveying the flood-affected areas on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Marlborough Emergency Management said it was transitioning to a recovery phase, now the worst of the wet weather had passed.

Emergency Management handed over to individual agencies such as the council, Marlborough Roads and the New Zealand Transport Agency last night after the worst of the weather had ended.

But the District Council said Marlborough could remain under a local state of emergency for another five days.

Spring Creek and Renwick residents were evacuated from their homes as a precaution on Friday night, while around 20 people became stranded after the Waiau river flooded.

The council said the recovery phase would officially begin on Monday.

Waihopai and Wairau rivers. – RNZ/Marlborough District Council

Mayor Nadine Taylor said while there was ongoing roading damage and surface flooding, those would be addressed by individual agencies.

She said the spring creek stop banks mostly held up.

The council's flood protection team would immediately begin fixing the compromised stop bank at the Waihopai/Wairau rivers, she added.

The weather warnings for Otago, Clutha and Southland were lifted shortly after 8pm.

MetService had no weather warning or watches in place across the country on Sunday morning.

Nelson Tasman group controller Alec Louverdis said the damage to property and infrastructure in Tasman was "substantial" and recovery would take time.

Rapid assessment teams in the Nelson Tasman district headed out at 8am to assess properties and infrastructure in Motueka, Riwaka, and Taparewa.

Louverdis said they would then try to get out to the more isolated communities in the valleys, who he said have not yet been heard from.

He said it was still "very wet, but thank goodness, the rain seems to have eased and forecast looks very promising for the recovery".

"There is no denying that the damage in the Tasman area is substantial and it will take a while to work through recovery.

"But we are still in response mode at the moment and we are busy making sure gathering information and date to assist the group recovery manager that they have a good plan and know exactly where the problems are."

"As the sun comes up we now have the opportunity to visually inspect and reach out to our isolated communities and take it from there one step at a time.

"Our focus right now is on supplying support to communities and understanding the exact damage to infrastructure as well as to property."

The Transport Agency said work was continuing to reopen state highways which were closed by Saturday's washouts.

State Highway 63 from Renwick to Saint Arnaud and State Highway 6 between Kawatiri to Kohatu remained closed off.

Another part of State Highway 6, at Rocks Road, was closed after a slip at 4am.

Waka Kotahi said the slip was being assessed.