'Oh my God we are going over': Horse truck owner calls for Napier-Taupō wind warning signs

This campervan was one of three vehicles that was blown off the road at Windy Gap on Saturday. Photo / Paul Taylor

It's known locally as "Windy Gap", and with good reason.

But the lack of signs or warning of the extreme gusts that were about to hit Emma Hager's horse truck on that stretch of the Napier-Taupō Rd have her calling for change.

One campervan was blown off the road, down a bank, and miraculously landed upright as what road users described as a "weather bomb" hit State Highway 5 near Te Haroto yesterday morning.

Nearer Taupō a similar vehicle blew off the road and a motorbike rider was blown off their bike.

But Hager says the carnage on the road could have been even worse had her truck not righted in immense winds as she travelled through Windy Gap at 11.30am.

Waka Kotahi says it is looking at variable messaging signs that could alert road users about high winds in the area, but they would be subject to "funding availability".

Hager said she had checked the forecast before she left for Taupō with her daughter and three horses on Saturday, a trip she makes every couple of weeks.

It was windy in Napier, but she noted there were no wind warnings and it was fine in Taupō.

But as she reached exposed areas of the road towards Te Haroto, she experienced what she describes as "the scariest moment of my life".

The first exposed gap on the road was "really blustery" and she slowed right down.

But as she hit Windy Gap about 11.30am the gusts blew her truck on to the other side of the road and lifted the left side of the vehicle off the road.

Emma Hager's horse truck was blown onto the wrong side of the ride and the left side lifted in the wind at Windy Gap on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

"I thought 'oh my God we are actually going over'," Hager said.

"My truck is solid on the road, even across the Takapau Plains where the winds can get high.

"I had three big horses on it, but if I didn't have that on, we would've definitely gone over."

Hager said it was "like something you see in a movie" and no amount of defensive driving could have helped her.

"I'm an experienced driver, I wouldn't have gone anywhere I thought was dangerous
- there were no warnings.

"It was not driveable.

"It could've ended absolutely terribly, if our truck had tipped over, I can't even imagine the carnage that would've ensued with the horses on board."

The interior lining of the truck crawl through area ripped during the incident. Photo / Supplied

Items from the left-hand side of the truck that lifted fell, and the material lining in the crawl-through gap from the cab to the back of the horse truck ripped as a result of the lift.

Other drivers stopped next to Hager, and they were told a campervan had blown off the road at the same spot their truck lifted up, she said.

A police spokesperson said two caravans or campervans and a motorbike came off the road in high winds.

Emergency services were alerted shortly before 11.30am, but a fire and rescue crew from Napier was turned back and wasn't needed at the scene, a spokesperson said.

Waka Kotahi NZTA national journey manager Helen Harris said their contractors were also called to Windy Gap.

"After some consideration, the decision was made not to close the highway but to put an area warning in place to advise motorists of strong winds."

Signs were put up at the side of the road to warn motorists and on Sunday the area warning was still in place, Harris said.

"Waka Kotahi provides real-time updates about road conditions and incidents on our Journey Planner webpage and our Facebook and Twitter accounts, so we suggest motorists check these before heading out.

"We continue to look into the possibility of installing Variable Messaging Signs (VMS) on the highway, which is subject to funding availability."