KEY POINTS:
Jon Bjornsson was standing near the hay shed on his farm when fierce gusts tore its iron roof apart.
The walls eventually gave way and the shed collapsed on to a concrete tank.
"I was there when the roof started blowing off, and I went to talk to the fire brigade but they couldn't do anything about it," the Dannevirke farmer told the Herald.
"The wind was tremendous. I can't remember it like this before."
Gales battered the lower North Island and Southland yesterday morning, and the MetService is warning that more blasts in the Wairarapa, southern Hawkes Bay and off the South Island's south coast may occur today.
Thousands of Southland and Otago residents faced the chilly prospect of having no power last night.
Forecaster Matthew Ford said exposed parts of Wellington recorded gusts of up to 152 km/h before 9am yesterday, and one of 141 km/h was recorded at Castle Pt up the East Coast.
Roads closed temporarily as emergency services dealt with minor traffic accidents, damage to houses and fallen trees and power lines.
High winds near Dannevirke caused two truck-trailers, a caravan and a motorcycle to topple over, and an ambulance crashed off the road and through a fence.
No major injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, strong early-morning winds shook the lower South Island, forcing at least four schools to cancel classes and causing power outages.
PowerNet systems control manager Kana Shanmuganathan hoped to have power restored to all customers by the end of today.
"There are about 2500 people who have lost power and we'll be working to 10pm and through to tomorrow to restore. We're stretched to full capacity now."
As of 8am today 1000 customers were still without power.
Earlier, flights into Invercargill were cancelled and a firefighter was blown off a Bluff roof on to a barbecue table.
Six stitches were inserted to the back of his head, said fire chief Bill Gold, but he returned to the station within 30 minutes of being treated and was now feeling "as good as gold, though his helmet got a bit squashed".
One Winton woman was struck in the head by ceiling timber after a tree crashed into her home.
Emergency services in Southland were flat out dealing with over 150 callouts, and police warned people to stay indoors if possible to avoid debris being hurled through the streets.
Two brick walls - one in Bluff and the other in Invercargill - collapsed in the wind and tunnel houses were flattened.
Mr Ford said a low pressure system had moved east over Stewart Island early yesterday morning, bringing strong south-westerlies over the coast.
Invercargill Airport felt the brunt of 128 km/h gusts, and 141 km/h gusts were recorded on Stewart Island.
"There's another front moving up the South Island," he said, "and winds are expected to strengthen and gust up to 120 km/h in places like Wellington, the Wairarapa and southern Hawkes Bay."
