27 Apr 2011

Severe winds cut power and bring down trees

1:15 pm on 27 April 2011

Many areas of the central North Island were without electricity on Tuesday because of severe winds.

In Taupo, the entire town lost its supply mid-afternoon after four substations failed.

The lines company Unison says three of those substations are now back on but about 2000 customers in the town centre and Acacia Bay remained without power into the evening.

A restaurant owner says he resorted to using candles for light, and dishes were being done by hand. He says they luckily had gas for cooking.

The company expects some rural customers to still be without power on Wednesday.

A spokesperson says the winds are still strong and Unison is still receiving reports of trees bringing down lines.

Another infrastructure operator, the Lines Company, says it has been working to restore electricity to about 800 customers in King Country.

And Powerco says about 2500 of its customers from Coromandel, across Western Bay of Plenty and as far south as Wairarapa were without power on Tuesday night.

Small tornado hits Picton

Earlier, the Picton suburb of Waikawa was hit by what is believed to have been a small tornado and the roofs were ripped from three properties.

One resident, Sid Mosdell, says his wife, who went outside to rescue a rubbish bin, narrowly missed being hit by debris as the roofs were ripped off two neighbouring buildings.

He says he heard the tornado coming and it had a shocking sound, like a jet engine.

Mr Mosdell told Checkpoint there was an "almighty thump" as a neighbour's roof hit his home, causing structural damage and a broken window.

He says part of one roof landed in his garden while other debris landed about half a kilometre away.

Transport affected

Earlier, in New Plymouth, several power lines were brought down by a roof that blew off a commercial building on State Highway 3, and aircraft were unable to land at the city airport because of winds were gusting up to 92 km/h.

Further north, roads in the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Waikato were affected by fallen trees, toppled power lines, slips and surface flooding.

The strong winds also lifted some roofs in the Waikato town of Te Awamutu.

MetService says the severe winds are caused by a slow-moving low centred near Auckland and a large high-pressure system over the South Island.

Forecasters say the severe southeasterly winds are an unusual occurrence, as it is rare for winds from that quarter to be so strong.