Cyclone hits New Zealand over Easter

Extreme weather batters South Island

Strong winds have hammered the South Island today with the tail end of Cyclone Ita damaging homes, businesses and causing problems for motorists.

TVNZ

18 April, 2014

Rain has eased in Canterbury and Eastern Otago but damage in many of these areas have already been done.

In Christchurch almost 20 roads were closed today due to widespread flooding. The flooding also damaged homes which were drying out after the last deluge.

NZTA says SH1 Maheno to Oamaru remains closed due to flooding. Otago Regional Council managers are warning people to stay clear of the Silverstream at Gordon Road near Mosgiel, where heavy rain today has resulted in some minor overflow of floodwater.

Flooding in the Flockton Basin.

There have also been reports earlier today of two rescues.

One was near Kakanui south of Oamaru and the other inland from Oamaru. At one of the rescues a car was believed to be stuck under overhead powerlines.

Sixty houses in Greymouth were damaged by the storm.

Grey District Council and Civil Defence met this morning to decide whether to declare a State of Emergency in the town, but said they simply did not have time with the weather picking up again.

A clean up is also underway in Nelson where 600mm of rain has fallen in the past four days.

MetService predicts heavy rain for Nelson with an estimated 100mm expected over the western ranges on top of the substantial amount that's already fallen.

This rain will also hit Marlborough and is expected to last until early Saturday

South Island main roads open despite slips

All major roads in the South Island are open, but motorists are advised to drive with caution. Slips are causing delays in many places.

Radio NZ,

19 April, 2014

The Transport Agency says the Takaka Hill Road in Tasman is down to one lane as road crews clear a slip.

State Highway One between Blenheim and Kaikoura is also down to one lane with several slips around Seddon and Ward.

On the West Coast, all roads around Buller and Greymouth districts are now open.

However, the Karangarua Bridge between Fox Glacier and Haast was damaged by high winds on Thursday and is still closed.

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Little River on Banks Peninsula.  Photo: Neil Brown

But on Banks Peninsula, State Highway 75 from Little River to Akaroa is still closed by slips.

Kaikoura district mayor Winston Gray said phone communications are coming back on after heavy rain damaged underground fibre optic cables.

Landlines and mobile communications have been out across the district since Friday, making it difficult to establish the impact of the storm.

In the North Island, torrential rain in Whakatane flooded several properties including the fire station.

The rain began about 6pm and the Whakatane River burst its banks at high tide, at about 9pm.

The Fire Service sent crews to about 50 call-outs on Friday night, including to houses along Alexander Avenue that were flooded when a stream burst its banks.

Deputy fire officer Malcolm Rowson said there was also severe flooding in Ohope and an extra fire engine was sent from Whakatane to help.

He said lightning and wind uprooted several trees, but the roads were now clear.

Meanwhile, MetService is warning Bay of Plenty and Rotorua residents to be aware of localised thunderstorms that could lead to flash floods and slips.

Driving conditions will be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility.

No power

Further north, hundreds of people spent the night without power.

Powerco, which operates across the North Island, says about 300 customers still don't have power on Saturday morning, but it hopes to restore supply to everyone by the end of the day.

Operations manager Phil Marsh said more than 200 personnel are working on repairs.

Top Energy in the Far North said late on Friday that electricity was back on for all but 50 of the 6000 customers whose power was out.

Farm damage compared to Bola

Storm damage to South Island farms over the past two days is being compared to that from Cyclone Bola in March 1988.

Bola killed three people and cost about $200 million when it hit the east coast of the North Island.

Jeanette Walker, a former farmer and Labour Party candidate for Kaikoura, said she has seen similarly severe damage to farms around Ward and Clarence, where entire hillsides have collapsed and fencelines have been destroyed.

''Whole hillsides have comes down,'' she said.

Ms Walker said farmers will need long-term Government assistance to recover.