Hundreds of residents are without power tonight after wild weather has hit Canterbury and the lower North Island.
Power remains out for 190 customers in South Canterbury after weather-related outages overnight, Alpine Energy has confirmed.
In Wellington, 120 customers are without power in Newlands and Paparangi.
Crews are working hard to repair an issue affecting households in the Makihihi/Hunter area, having already restored supply to 160 customers.
Alpine Energy said the network was holding up well and teams remained on standby should conditions worsen.
No other outages have been identified.
Earlier, Emergency Management Canterbury advised that people needed to be aware of the weather warnings issued as destructive winds and heavy rain hit the South Island.
MetService said strong winds are expected to continue into this afternoon and evening, mainly for the Canterbury and Marlborough regions.
Emergency Management Canterbury spokeswoman Rachel Thornton said it’s “important that people stay vigilant”.
“We have had a number of power outages across the South Island – it’s unknown at this stage if this number will rise,” Thornton said.
“But people should remain vigilant until the warning runs out.”
Thornton said people could get updates from Emergency Management Canterbury on its Facebook page.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said it had been called out to incidents involving fallen trees and signage on highways.
NZTA has a general warning in place due to strong winds and is advising road users in the Canterbury region to take extra care, especially those operating light or high-sided vehicles.
“MetService’s red strong wind warning remains in place for Canterbury about and west of State Highway 1,” NZTA said.
“Under this highest level of warning, people are advised to avoid travel due to dangerous driving conditions.”
MetService said Mt Hutt recorded a “very strong” gust of 224km/h overnight.
Alpine Energy reported several unplanned power outages across much of the region in Milford, Ōrari, Orton, Rangitata Island, Hunter, Makikihi, Otaio, Temuka, Winchester and Jacksons Bush.
It stated that its crews were working to restore power and reminded people to treat all power lines as if they were live.
Transport and weather authorities are also advising motorists to stay off the roads.
Fire authorities are also urging people not to light outdoor fires due to the higher fire risk.
‘Damaging winds’ of up to 120km/h
MetService has now lifted the red strong wind warning – the highest level – for the Canterbury region, while orange warnings are now in place for parts of the lower north island and upper south island.
Gale force winds are expected in Marlborough, Wellington, Wairarapa south of Greytown, and the Marlborough Sounds.
Residents are being advised to secure outdoor items and drive carefully.
Earlier, MetService’s Saturday advisory forecast said that a red warning had been issued for the Canterbury High Country for damaging northwesterly winds.
Southland, Fiordland, Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago, the inland parts of North Otago, Dunedin, Clutha and the Marlborough region (excluding the Sounds) were experiencing severe northwesterly gales gusting at 120km/h in exposed areas.
Westland District north of Harihari and Canterbury east of State Highway 1 from Temuka to Lake Tekapo also had orange wind warnings in place.
MetService advised motorists to avoid travel in Canterbury about and west of the foothills and west of State Highway 1 south of the Rakaia River.
Grey District Council said lampposts had come down in Cobden and there were reports of roofs lifting.
“Please stay home and report problems via our Snap Send Solve app or by phoning us,” Grey District Council said.
NZTA reported surface flooding between Kumara Junction and Arthur’s Pass.
MetService said Wellington was next in the wind firing line with an orange wind warning right through until this evening.
Wellington, Wairarapa south of Greytown and the Marlborough Sounds are under a orange wind warning from 9am today until 3am Monday.
KiwiRail cancelled its Sunday TranzAlpine service due to severe weather.
Today’s 7.45am service from Christchurch to Greymouth and the 2.15pm return journey were both canned because of severe rain and gale warnings from MetService.
KiwiRail said no further services are affected at this stage.
The severe winds have the potential to cause threat to life from flying objects and falling trees, the weather authority said, and may cause widespread damage, including downed powerlines.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand district commander Rob Hands made the plea after firefighters’ efforts to put out a scrub fire in Canterbury this week were hampered by high winds.
“We had a foretaste of this last Wednesday, when there were multiple fires across our region – and our firefighters dealt with some very challenging situations due to preventable fires.
“We want to avoid that happening again.”
Hands said the winds will make any fires very hard to control and could easily ignite old fires that have not been completely extinguished.
Anyone who has had an outdoor fire in the last two weeks was urged to check the site and make sure it was completely out, he said.
Members of the public were told to put water on the ash piles or embers if there was any sign of heat.
Heavy rain warnings also in place
An orange heavy rain warning will begin in Taranaki Maunga (Mt Taranaki) in the early hours of tomorrow morning, continuing through till Tuesday morning.
MetService said the front is slowly moving up the South Island, hitting the central and southern parts of the North Island with the most intensity tomorrow afternoon.
“It’s not very fast-moving, this front, so it is bringing a lot of rain to us.”
Orange heavy rain warnings are also still in place for western parts of the South Island’s West Coast but have been lifted in the headwaters of Canterbury.
The warning continues into the Tasman region northwest of Motueka, Richmond Ranges and the Bryant Range, and Rai Valley.
As much as 100mm of rain is expected in some areas.
A heavy rain watch will come into place tomorrow throughout the Tararua Ranges and Fiordland.
MetService confirmed 83mm of rain had fallen at Mount Cook village in just six hours overnight, which equated to 12mm of rain an hour.
Additionally, Milford Sound recorded 64mm of rain overnight.
NZTA said it responded to reports of flooding on State Highway 6 in Central Otago this morning and surface flooding on State Highway 73 between Kumara Junction and Arthur’s Pass.
People were advised to clear drains and gutters to prepare for heavy rain, avoid low-lying areas and drive cautiously.
Westland was forecast to get heavy rainfall of 80mm on top of what has fallen. Those in the area are advised that there is a risk of flooding, slips and power outages.
“Rivers and streams may rise rapidly and surface flooding is possible.”
The Grey District was also in for strong winds and potential severe gusts in exposed areas. Members of the public were told to secure loose items and be prepared for travel delays.
Anyone in the Buller District should expect windy conditions and rainfall increasing today. People in the area are urged to drive with caution on exposed and elevated roads.
MetService said the combination of strong wind and rain pushed rainfall further inland with the heaviest rainfall east of the Southern Alps.
With school holidays also now under way, authorities are urging those travelling on roads to be extra careful and to keep up-to-date with weather forecasts and warnings.
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