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Strong winds and torrential rain are causing commuter chaos in Auckland, with ferries and trains cancelled or delayed and warnings of hazardous road conditions.
Police have advised residents not to use the roads unless "absolutely necessary".
They this evening declared the Harbour Bridge unsafe for motorcycles after attending two incidents in ten minutes where riders had been blown off their bikes.
One commuter, Emma, wrote into the Herald website praising her bus driver for his efforts in the atrocious conditions.
"I was on the 839 bus heading across the bridge at 6.45pm Tuesday night.
"The wind was so bad the driver (and other large vehicles on the road) couldn't stay within their lanes easily, and were drifting no matter what they did," she wrote.
Another motorist described seeing waves crashing onto the breakwater on the northern side of the bridge and spraying the motorway.
Lights on the bridge went out and traffic delays were worsened when the median lane barrier was knocked out of alignment.
Police said wind also wreaked havoc in downtown Auckland.
"There are some corrugated sheets of metal blowing down 14 stories from the Rydges Hotel," Senior Sergeant Matt Rogers of Auckland Police said.
"It's lucky nobody has been killed or injured to be honest."
Trains
Train services from Britomart were suspended at 6.15pm after trees fell across tracks at Parnell on the Southern Line and near Sylvia Park on the Eastern Line.
Earlier one train returned to Britomart after onboard staff managed to clear vegetation from the tracks.
All other train services are experiencing delays, with Western line services terminating at Swanson where taxi replacements will be provided to Waitakere.
Ontrack has placed a blanket 40km/h speed restriction on trains between Te Kauwhata in the south and Wellsford in the north. Trees have fallen across the lines in some areas. The line north of Wellsford is closed due to flooding.
Rail operator Veolia Transport was trying to hire replacement buses but finding it difficult to obtain any.
Auckland's regional transport authority Maxx said all Waiheke and Half Moon Bay ferries had been cancelled.
Pine Harbour ferries have also been cancelled and are being replaced by bus or taxi.
Ferry sailings from Auckland to Birkenhead have been travelling directly to Northcote, from where passengers are continuing their journey by bus.
- NZHERALD STAFF
