An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said 10 flights into or out of Hawke’s Bay had been cancelled, while one flight had been diverted. Act leader David Seymour's flight was one of those cancelled. Photo / Warren Buckland
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said 10 flights into or out of Hawke’s Bay had been cancelled, while one flight had been diverted. Act leader David Seymour's flight was one of those cancelled. Photo / Warren Buckland
Winds have reached near-record-breaking speeds south of Hawke’s Bay, with multiple flights in and out of the region cancelled on Monday morning.
MetService confirmed a peak wind speed of 246km/h at Cape Turnagain overnight on Sunday in a post on social media.
A wind watch remains in place for Hawke’s Bay south of Wairoa on Monday.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said 10 flights into or out of Hawke’s Bay had been cancelled, and one flight from Christchurch to Napier was diverted to Palmerston North. One flight was cancelled on Sunday.
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Winds also contributed to an escalating series of grass fires, which led to widespread callouts on Sunday night and Monday morning in Central Hawke’s Bay.
Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Murray Dunbar said firefighters responded to a scrub fire threatening a house in Elsthorpe about 9am on Monday.
Dunbar said the fire, which was reportedly 300 metres by 250m in size, was contained and firefighters were working to extinguish it at 10.45am.
Firefighters from Ōtāne, Waipawa, Hastings, Ōmakere and Elsthorpe attended with three pump appliances, two rural appliances and two tankers.
A large shed fire in windy conditions near Hastings on Sunday afternoon. Photo / Paul Taylor
Dunbar said firefighters also responded to reports of multiple large uncontrolled bonfires near State Highway 50 near Tikokino at 7.39pm.
Firefighters from Tikokino, Ongaonga, Hastings, Napier, Tamatea, Maraekakaho, Ōtāne and Raukawa attended.
Six pumping appliances, three rural appliances, four tankers and four specialist support vehicles were called to attend, but the fire was extinguished by 8.54pm.
Tikokino Fire Brigade deputy chief Andrew Robertson said the response was precautionary due to the dark and windy conditions.
“It was several smaller fires, likely old fires the wind had stirred,” Robertson said.
“The wind worked in our favour towards the end.”
He said it was difficult for him to estimate how large the fires were.
Firefighters from Tikokino and Ongaonga later responded to a tree that hit power lines near SH50 at 11.50pm.
Unison acting general manager network and operations Gaganpreet Chadha said more than 7700 customers had been impacted by outages since the wind picked up on Sunday, and small pockets of customers remain without power.
“Just over 400 customers remain without power on Unison’s network in Hawke’s Bay, and we should be able to restore power to a further 200 by the end of Monday,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there are parts of the network that have either suffered extensive damage or are more difficult to access, particularly in areas of northern Hawke’s Bay, Crownthorpe, and Maraekakaho. This means it is unlikely crews will be able to complete restorations in these areas safely before nightfall, but crews will be on site Tuesday morning to complete restoration repairs.”
“Turn off the power at the main switch if you suspect any electrical damage in your home. If the power goes out, turn off all electrical appliances to prevent possible damage by a power surge when the electricity supply is restored,” the Unison statement said.
A separate, larger fire spread through a 30x30m implement shed at an orchard on Irongate Lane and appeared to be under control by about 4pm.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
