Gales bring down tree, satellite dish

DISHED UP: Wayne McCormick at Fire and Safety Training checks out the overturned giant satellite reception dish which has been stored there. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

The gale-force winds which hit the region on Monday night were so strong they overturned a two-tonne satellite receiver dish and sent it crashing through the wall of a nearby storage shed in Onekawa.
That incident, along with the bringing down of a large tree at the Karituwhenua Stream Walkway reserve at Havelock North, were the parting shots of the weather front which hammered the Bay on Monday.
However, the wild winds are not quite done with just yet, MetService forecaster Marilyn Avery said.
"There are some severe gale gusts expected [today] and while they won't be as bad as what we had on Monday, it will still get pretty windy."
She said a wind warning had accordingly been put out for the region south of Napier where some gusts could nudge 120km/h in open areas.
The weather is then set to be fairly settled for the rest of the week.
The overturned satellite dish is owned by Television Hawke's Bay and had been set up on the Hinepare building on Napier Hill until a few months ago when it was removed as development of the area got under way.
Murray Sawyer, who launched the channel 20 years ago, said yesterday getting word that the dish had been sent tumbling was "not exactly the call I wanted".
He has been holidaying and seeing family in Tauranga and got the call from Wayne McCormick at Fire and Safety Training in Niven St, where the dish has been stored about 8am.
"Wayne said it had been blown over and that it ended up hitting a shed - I won't know the extent of any damage until I get back down there at the end of the week but hopefully it's not too bad."
The dish had been stored at the Niven St site where it will eventually be securely bolted down to commence receiving signals for the station again.
The station is currently using a smaller 3m dish but it was susceptible to strong winds and reception was occasionally affected.
Mr McCormick said the aluminium dish and its heavy-duty steel base had never been affected by wind gusts in the past.
"The wind was pretty strong but I think we've had stronger blasts than that since its been here - it must have been really something."
He said the dish was flat at the time and not acting like a sail, and that "all was well" when he left at 5pm on Monday.
"I got here at 8 the next morning and there it was - I couldn't believe it."
Despite its size and weight, the dish had been lifted and swivelled across the ground, taking out one wall of the storage shed.
"It's made a right old mess and it's just lucky we had nothing valuable alongside the wall."
Mr Sawyer was arranging to get a heavy lift firm to place the dish upright again.
He is unlikely to have any more wind-worry issues however.
After gusts today, the rest of the week is set to be mainly fine with southerlies set to arrive tomorrow, although weakening through the day and replaced by northeasterlies on Friday.
Sunshine and mild northeasterlies and temperatures of about 17C are on the cards for the weekend.