Bay workers stranded

DAMAGING: Cyclone Pam heading south past Vanuatu.

Bay workers are stranded on the small Pacific island of Tuvalu after Cyclone Pam ravaged the island.

The team from Tauranga-based Powersmart are in Tuvalu on a solar project, and were due to move to a different region this weekend - but weather had hampered their plans.

Cyclone Pam was last night a category 5 supercyclone, the biggest seen in the Pacific in 30 years.

The news came as the Bay's billion-dollar kiwifruit industry was bracing itself for high winds from the cyclone, which could blemish fruit, making them unfit for export - while damaged vines and heavy rain may spark an outbreak of Psa.

Meanwhile, local residents and businesses were battening down the hatches last night, many sand bagging, buying in extra supplies and watching weather alerts.

In a blog post Tauranga's Powersmart team members in Tuvalu said they had been working six-and-a-half-day weeks for four weeks to finish in time for a scheduled ferry service, which was due to pick them up from Vaitupu today.

However, it was cancelled following "horizontal" rain and strong winds.

"Locals report that they've not seen weather like this since the storm of 1991," the blog's author, Heather Logie, said.

"Waves have been pushing higher all morning [Wednesday] sweeping rubbish up on to the streets. Two coconut trees have given way and come crashing down."

The storm was also affecting power and communications, she said.

"And to top it all off, we are on diesel rations again. We are down to our last 235l of fuel and the generator will only come on for three hours tonight and then another three hours tomorrow morning.

"With it, our communications with the rest of the world."

Back home in the Bay, the kiwifruit industry is bracing for potential damage when the cyclone hits.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc president Neil Trebilco said "the storm is the last thing you need, especially now prior to harvest".

Class one kiwifruit that suffered surface marks from rubbing against one another or the vine meant they were no longer suitable for export, he said.

"It will mean things like reject rates go up so that affects profitability. If you lose fruit from a grower's point of view it's commercially not advantageous."

Psa could become an issue and growers needed to consider putting on protective spray to guard against it.

Nothing could be done about the wind, he said.

"If you get part of the vines being blown out or leaves blown off that creates a wound point in the plant and if you combine that with rain - that will enable Psa to get in."

While the event would not wipe out the entire crop, growers could potentially lose tens of millions of dollars, he said.

Zespri communications manager Oliver Broad said in a written statement it was unable to market heavily damaged or bruised fruit.

It was looking ahead to a great fruit crop and significant volume growth had been expected, he said.

"We are watching the weather with concern and certainly hope that the worst effects are avoided."

Mount Mainstreet manager Peter Melgren said he was taking the cyclone seriously and had advised businesses to take precautions.

Tauranga City Council workers had been in the Mount yesterday pumping out all the stormwater sumps, he said.

"If we get half the rain they are forecasting and half the wind, and if the cyclone keeps on its current track, we will have damp feet."

Breakers Cafe and Bar director Tom Collins said his premises had been flooded in June when carpets got wet and rain leaked through the roof so he had sandbags at the ready.

"We will be watching this for sure and on alert. It's a little bit of a worry."

On June 11 in the so-called one-in-50-year storms Roxanne Pl businessman Guy Metz said flooding "cost me my business".

His property was now fixed and the council had delivered sandbags and a pump but they were still no closer to sorting out flood problems, he said.

Drainage systems failed last year in Roxanne Pl and the Maleme St area when big downpours in Oropi's catchments, combined with a high tide resulted in water entering buildings at the bottom of the street. "They have raised the road to improve access but that is not going to prevent flooding until they finish what is proposed."

A meeting was planned with the council on March 30. In the meantime he was taking precautions for Cyclone Pam.

Arataki resident Jo Shannon said her home in Caryfort St had been flooded at least four times in four years and she was concerned about the consequences of a cyclone.

"Everything in the garage will have to be higher than one metre off the ground and cars will need to be parked away from the property."

She worried properties that were hit "with these types of disasters" might no longer get insurance. "Maybe the council would like to meet with our insurance companies to discuss a way forward whereby part of our rates are allocated for our higher insurance premiums?"

Brookfield New World human resources manager Lisa Dodge said the store "has been actually kind of crazy," as people stocked up and prepared to hunker down for the weekend.

Battery, torches and water sales were up. Customers had also been buying fresh fruit and vegetables with some saying "they just want to tuck away for the weekend and get enough food so they don't have to come out".

Council communication adviser Marcel Currin said after a year of intensive maintenance the city's stormwater systems were prepared.

On Thursday it instructed Downer to undertake a "heavy rain check list" that included about 100 sites.

The council and all relevant contractors would be on call during the weekend, he said.

Last night the MetService issued a severe weather watch for the Bay of Plenty.

Forecaster Sarah Garlick said gale southeasterlies, heavy rain and large seas were predicted for northeastern parts of the North Island late tomorrow and Monday, which included the possibility of severe gales in Tauranga on Monday.

The cyclone had the potential to be a "significant" event, with strong southeast winds and rain expected over much of the North Island during Monday, along with large seas and swells along the east coast.

Powerco acting network operations manager Dean Stevenson said strong winds were likely to cause power cuts and it was advising its customers in the Western Bay of Plenty to treat downed lines as live and keep clear of them. They should call in any emergencies such as trees in power lines or lines down, he said.

NZ Transport Agency Bay of Plenty journey manager Nigel D'Arth advised motorists to avoid any non-essential travelling.with NZME.