Gusts of over 100kph as district cops wind blast

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The Gisborne region took a hammering from gale-force winds yesterday but appears to have escaped without serious damage.

Maximum gusts topped over 100 kilometres an hour in places exposed to the north-west blast.

In Gisborne city itself, the district council reported it gusted to 94kmh at the airport while MetService confirmed it topped 80kmh.

At the top end of the district, Hicks Bay experienced gusts hitting 80kmh while at Ruatoria's Poroporo Station the top gust was 108kmh at 9am yesterday.

In Gisborne the wind eased in the middle of the day, then strengthened again in the afternoon, while on the Coast at Pouawa, a gust hitting 115kmh was recorded at 9pm the night before and again at 11am yesterday.

The strongest winds to hit the district in recent times were recorded at Wharekopae on August 9 last year — a gust of 166kmh and a gust of 134kmh in the Whareratas on February 13 this year.

While there appear to have been no major power outages, Eastland Network linesmen have continued to be busy repairing damage caused by earlier rainstorms.

Over the past few days, Eastland Network's work schedule showed about 200 power poles were to be replaced mainly in the hard-hit, flood-damaged back country up the Coast north of Gisborne.

More strong winds were forecast for today and another blast of north to north-west gale force winds is forecast from tomorrow through to Monday, with heavy rain also a possibility for the top of East Cape and the ranges.