Wild weather in northern New Zealand

June was the warmest on record in New Zealand and I wouldn't be surprised if this month, July, also sets a record.

It is unseasonably warm in the capital and there is a storm raging in the north of the country

Storm leaves destructive trail, leaves thousands without power

Thousands of people are still without power across the north following a severe storm which battered the country over the past two days

NZ Herald,

10 July, 2014

Thousands of people are still without power across the north following a severe storm which battered the country over the past two days.

Around 9400 homes are without electricity this morning across Auckland and Northland as many prepare to spend a second day without power, just four weeks since the last damaging storm.

The worst of the wind has eased off, MetService said, but blustery and wet weather is still expected throughout the day.

Just under 2000 households are without power in Auckland, Vector said, with 913 homes restored overnight - down from a total 16,900 at the height of the storm.

"Vector crews restored small pockets of customers left off from the storm and also dealt with fresh outages overnight in Torbay, Woodlands, Oratia, and Titirangi caused by the continual blustery high winds," a spokeswoman said.

"The customers still off are in areas where access is challenging or where the network damage requires extensive work. Fresh crews will be out in numbers today to take over from the night crews."

In the Far North 7500 homes are still without power this morning, despite 3500 being restored last night.

"Two thirds of those off supply are in the northern part of the region, where the damage has been more extensive," a Top Energy spokesman said.

"Crews will be back out at daylight, but continue to experience very heavy rain and high winds across the region."

The worst affected areas are in Pukenui, Awanui, Te Kao, Te Hapua, Mahiniapua, Peria and Towai.

The company also warned customers that some may be facing a third night without power.

"We're gutted that, by the time supplies are fully restored, a significant chunk of the Far North will end up having been without power for two, possibly even three nights," said Top Energy CEO Russell Shaw.

"We lost 75 per cent of supply to the Far North supplied from Kaitaia and 25 per cent to the Mid North supplied from Kaikohe."

Repairs are being hampered by significant access issues due to downed trees and flooding.

"Our lines staff have had to chop trees off roads just so we can get to the lines," Mr Shaw said.

The storm was the most severe event the company had experienced for at least a decade, he said, and the scale of the damage to the network, across the entire region, was "immense".

This included damage to poles and other structures.

"Sturdy concrete electricity poles have been blown down and even snapped, and large 50-60 year-old trees have been blown down across lines and access roads. Winds gusting up to 160 km/hr have ripped lines out of the cross-arms on electricity poles."

The structural damage would increase repair time, Mr Shaw said.

Meanwhile, power has been restored to all customers in Christchurch who experienced an outage due to a fault last night, Orion said.

The fault occurred on a high voltage line that runs from Islington to Papanui, cutting power to around 30,000 customers in north and north-west Christchurch at around 9.30pm.

The cause of the outage will not be known until the high voltage line is able to be examined in the daylight, Orion said.

Meanwhile, insurers have paid out nearly $77 million on claims for storm damage in the first half of this year, the Insurance Council of New Zealand says. The final insurance cost of damage from the storm that hit Canterbury and the lower North Island on March 4 and 5 was $22.5 million, taking the total storm-related insured payouts for the first six months of the year to $76.9 million, chief executive Tim Grafton said.

Insurers settled more than 4000 claims for the Canterbury storm paying out $21.6 million, including $15.2 million in domestic claims.

Farmers hit hard by power cuts - trust

The storm that battered Northland this week may have eased but many farmers in the region are still struggling with power cuts and flooding.

Radio NZ,

10 July, 2014

Power companies estimated that, despite their best efforts, at least 10,000 customers, including many in rural areas, had to spend a second night without power.

The lack of power is a particular challenge for northern dairy farmers who are still milking at this time of the year to supply winter milk.

Northland Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Julie Jonker said the group had been checking to see if any farms needed generators to help them through.

The disruption to milking was not the only issue for farmers, she said. The loss of power had also put electric fences out of action, and that would put winter feed supplies at risk.

"The big thing that we've got to watch is that people have built up feed cover ahead of themselves, because we've had a reasonably mild start to winter," she said.

"And with the power going off to these fences, the damage stock can do, they they have no idea that they shouldn't be eating these stored pastures, they'll just get in."

Hukerenui farmer Evan Sneath's biggest problem is that about 30ha of his farm is under water and he expects it will take about five days to clear.

"The biggest problem is we've got extra mobs, we've got calving mobs and dry cows, and it just doubles your workload because every night you've got to put on, put off feed, you've just got to be there with the cows that are calving and checking them the whole time so that we don't lose calves," he said.

"You'll lose them in the wet and cold conditions if they're born in this sort of weather."

Mr Sneath said calving had only just started, which meant it was not as bad as it could have been.

From Radio NZ -