Waves crashing over the road at Lowry Bay have left debris strewn. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Waves crashing over the road at Lowry Bay have left debris strewn. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Ferry sailings are cancelled and some Wellingtonians are being urged to stay home as 5 metre high waves batter the coastline.
Waves have destroyed construction of a cycle path along Lowry Bay Road in Eastbourne, and the council has warned people to stay home until the tides abate.
Cycle-way construction destroyed by waves at Windy Point. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Jon Kingsbury from Hutt City Council told NZME the swells have not damaged any permanent structures.
“No adverse effects, we’ll assess the skeleton and maybe make some changes to where it is as a part of lessons learned but I don’t see any impact on the project moving forward.”
Hutt City Council said people in the eastern bays should stay home or delay travel this morning as contractors clear debris swept up on to the road by the high seas.
CAUTION MARINE DRIVE / STAY HOME / DELAY TRAVEL
Mōrena Eastern Bays residents - we recommend people stay home this morning or delay their travel. Council contractors have been working on Marine Drive clearing debris but it’s going to get worse in the next couple of hours.
“We’re approaching high tide, and it’s a King Tide which means the tide will be much higher than normal with large waves. There’s also a strong southerly wind. The next 2 hours are going to be the most dangerous for travel on Marine Drive.”
Waves crashing over the road at Lowry Bay. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Strong winds have also downed powerlines on trees and 65 homes in Belmont, Lower Hutt are without power.
The high winds have forced the cancellation of morning sailings across the Cook Strait from both Bluebridge and the Interislander – and as the ships are in such high demand, customers are looking at either a full refund and no sailing, or one weeks away.
Interislander said those affected by this morning’s cancellation would receive a full refund – but would not be rebooked. “Unfortunately we are fully booked and we are unable to move you to other sailings. You will receive a full refund. Please do not come to the terminals. We are not offering standbys. We are still assessing whether later sailings will depart.”
Bluebridge has also cancelled a number of sailings - 2.00am, 8.15am and 1.30pm between Wellington and Picton and the 2.30am, 7.45am and 2pm the other way.
“Please be aware there is currently an exceptionally high demand for sailings across Cook Strait, and we are heavily booked, so we may not be able to rebook your sailing for a few weeks.”
Cape Palliser Road has also been damaged by overnight swells and is closed until further notice.
Contractors are near the Department of Conservation Station, unable to proceed further due to a large hole in the road. As a result further assessments have not been possible.
Further south was slammed by high winds with hundreds of homes in Banks Peninsula losing power after a night of gales.
According to Orion Group, the power supplier to the region, 455 homes in the region are without power.
The peninsula is still under a strong wind warning with MetService warning of wind gusts up to 120km/h.
