Protected giant falls in big storm

Heavy rain and gale force winds caused slips, flooding and downed trees in the Western Bay yesterday.
One victim of the weather was a protected pohutakawa tree.
The massive protected pohutakawa tree in Presbyterian Cemetery in the Avenues threatened to fall over and damage two nearby residents' homes.
Arbocare's arborist Phil Sale said a 7-tonne excavator, cables and ropes had to be used and the clean-up would continue today.
One resident chose to leave her house for the day while another resident who wasn't home was left a warning sign.
Mr Sale said the damage occurred due to a combination of the wind and rain. "It's a real shame it was a beautiful old tree."
Tauranga City Council arborist Richard Conning said the tree was more than 100 years old and may have been planted when the cemetery was first established in the 1870s.
Mr Conning said there didn't appear to be damage to gravestones but the full extent of any damage won't be known until the clean-up process was complete.
Yesterday's weather also caused slips on Belk Rd, Rocky Cutting Rd, Oropi Gorge Rd, Waitao Rd, Omanawa Rd and SH2 Whakamarama.
One large slip also blocked Bledisloe Park Ave for about half an hour.
Mount Maunganui fire crews visited a Penrhyn Place, Bayfair, property three times yesterday to pump water out of the resident's backyard due to flooding.
Carlton Street Reserve flooded and there was also surface flooding in Omokoroa and Bowentown.
The heavy rain was the result of an active rain band moving across the Bay of Plenty.
Western Bay District Council communication adviser Peter Hennessey said all roads were now passable, but there is some follow-up maintenance work to be completed.
Some customers also lost power as a result of trees and branches hitting overhead lines.
Powerco Network Operations Manager Phil Marsh said many of yesterday's power cuts could have been avoided if tree owners had kept their trees trimmed and clear of Powerco's networks.
Met Service forecaster Jeff Sanders said the strong winds have eased in the Bay of Plenty and the Western Bay should experience a mixture of fine breaks with the odd shower today.
Tomorrow there could be early morning rain showers and there was the possibility of fresh south easterly wind bursts developing later in the afternoon.
Heavy rain caused two small sewer overflows in the city yesterday.
One was at Third Avenue affecting Waikareo Estuary and the other at Beach Road affecting Tauranga Harbour. The overflows were caused by high flows that exceeded the wastewater system's capacity.