Weather: Lower Hutt woman Julie Paterson narrowly escapes falling tree branch in storm

• Wellington residents are urged to seek shelter after a rare red wind warning was issued.
• MetService predicts 140km/h gales, causing potential widespread damage, power outages and dangerous driving conditions.
• Lower Hutt woman Julie Paterson in shock after she narrowly escapes being crushed by a tree.

A Lower Hutt woman was left trembling and in shock after she narrowly missed being crushed by a falling tree branch.

Julie Paterson was getting ready to go to the doctor during the storm when she escaped death.

“As I came around the back of my car, I heard this really, really loud cracking noise. I looked around, looked up, and thought, ‘What is that noise?’

“As I looked up, I just saw part of this tree breaking away and coming towards me,” she told the Herald.

Paterson turned and tried to run the other way as the branch descended towards her.

“It came crashing down and landed right at the back of my car about three feet away from me, smashed into the driveway, went back in the air, and just landed a little further over.

“I was in shock. I was just … just trembling. I got such a fright. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I thought, ‘I need a drink’.”

Julie Paterson, of Hayward Terrace in Lower Hutt, narrowly escaped being crushed by a falling branch during the storm. Photo / Julie Paterson

The fallen branch also tangled in a power line and brought it down.

“Not only has the tree just tried to take me out, but now I could get electrocuted,” she said.

“I just quickly hurried inside and I was panicking, freaking out. I just couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“I sat down on my armchair for a couple of minutes thinking, that’s when I sort of started realising how close a call it was.”

Paterson said the rush of wind was so loud in her ears that she could not hear the tradesmen talking to her when they came to block off the footpath.

She could not believe the chances of the incident happening to her, let alone the chances of it just missing her.

“That could have done some horrific injuries. I’m going to go and buy a lottery ticket. I really do believe I’ve got angels all around me.”

Wind speeds in the Wellington area have already reached at least 150km/h in exceptionally exposed areas and 118km/h elsewhere.

Most flights in and out of the city were cancelled this morning, with Air New Zealand advising more were expected to be cancelled. Cook Strait ferry sailings have also been cancelled until at least tomorrow.

Power has been knocked out to hundreds of homes around the region, with work ongoing to restore electricity.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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