Storm hits Wellington

We survived the night without losing power but many housesholds woke up without power and many without roofs

120 mph winds in Wellington hills

Wellington wakes to wind-whipped city; 36 foot (12 m) swells in Cook Strait

Radio NZ,

21 June, 2013

Emergency services have fielded hundreds of calls in Wellington as a severe storm lashed the region, downing trees, leaving thousands without power and and forcing ferry, train and flight cancellations.

Air New Zealand flights in and out of the city were cancelled on Friday morning, ferry sailings halted until the afternoon and train services were severely disrupted.

MetService said the wind reached 200km/h at Mount Kaukau in the suburb of Khandallah late on Thursday and 142km/h at Wellington Airport.

Lines company Wellington Electricity said 28,000 households remained without power because of damage caused by high winds and torrential rain. Transpower said the cable that carries power between the North and South Islands had been out for a short while on Thursday.

A storage shed in Grenada North was severely damaged.

Fire Service shift manager Murray Dudfield said crews had responded to 585 callouts in the lower North Island in the 12 hours to 6am on Friday, most related to damage caused to buildings, including roofs being blown off and windows blown in.

Mr Dudfield said properties on Wellington's south coast were worst hit, with residents in Kingston, Melrose, Island Bay and Lyall Bay particularly affected.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the council is assessing the damage and there will be a huge operation to clean up after the storm.

Ms Wade Brown said one of the houses damaged in the slip in Kingston three weeks ago has lost part of its roof.

Radio New Zealand staff member Sandra Cody said the roof of her house in the southern Wellington suburb of Melrose had begun lifting along with that of her neighbours.

"A house up the road has lost all its iron off its roof. Our iron is starting to move and our garage, the back wall has blown in."

An industrial building in Grenada North, north of Wellington, that stored scaffolding equipment was severely damaged in the gales. The shed was made of steel and built this year, and its owner said it will have to be entirely replaced.

A supermarket sign was toppled onto a carpark in Johnsonville.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND

Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said on Thursday the council received more than 200 calls from frightened residents.

"We've got reports of roofing iron flying down roads in some parts of town - that's a lethal situation. We've got multiple reports of trees down, powerlines down, we've got reports about houses losing roofs, broken windows, structural damage and all sorts of problems."

The wind caused Interislander ferry Kaitaki to break its moorings on Thursday evening forcing it to anchor in the harbour. Wellington Harbourmaster Mike Pryce said two tug boats stayed overnight with the vessel which had about 50 crew on board.

Transport disrupted

The rail line between Petone and Wellington was closed and services between Hutt Valley and Wellington were cancelled until further notice. The Waikanae to Paekakariki line was closed, and signal problems were likely to cause delays between Porirua and Wellington

All Go Wellington and Valley Flyer school buses and Eastbourne buses have been cancelled.

Highways in the Wellington area were open again but a number of other roads were still closed by slips, fallen trees and other debris.

Marine Drive between Eastbourne and Lower Hutt, the Paekakariki Hill Road, both roads to Makara Village and Makara Beach, and Middleton Road between Johnsonville and Churton Park were closed.

Wellington Civil Defence warned drivers to take extreme care and drive slowly as there would be debris on roads.

Some schools in the region were closed for the day, as were all kindergartens in Wellington city and some in Hutt City.

Schools closed included Hutt Central, Tawa Primary, Windley, Rudolf Steiner in Lower Hutt, Ridgeway and Mangaroa schools and Aotea College.

Kenneth Maennchen works at a cafe on Wellington's south coast and said it was years since there had been such strong winds.

"(The waves) just look like giant galloping horses with spray coming off them before they have even crashed."

The Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office opened its headquarters in Thorndon and the Porirua and Hutt City Emergency Operations Centres were also open.

Houses damaged in Auckland lightning strike

High winds and thunderstorms were also hitting northern-most parts of New Zealand on Thursday.

More than a dozen homes in and around the Auckland were damaged when lightning brought down trees.hit about 10pm.

The Fire Service said a tree fell on two houses in the suburb of Glen Innes, and one person was believed to have suffered minor leg injuries.

Houses were damaged, and windows shattered in Whangaparaoa, north of the city, when trees were struck by lightning.

MetService said it had recorded wind gusts of 110km/h in western parts of Northland and at Manukau heads near Auckland.

Snow closes NI roads

Much of the central North Island was closed off as heavy snowfall shut roads.

The Desert Road, State Highway 1 Rangipo To Taihape, was closed, as were all alternative routes.

Snow closed State Highway 46 Rangipo to Tongariro, SH48 Tongariro National Park, SH47 Turangi to National Park, SH4 and SH49 National Park to Waiouru.