Northland hit by storms

Northlanders are mopping up after three days of weather that felled trees, sank boats, flipped a truck and cut power to thousands.

The weekend storm caused widespread damage in the north and west of the region.

Its effects were still being felt at high tide yesterday in Dargaville when sandbags were needed to hold back the Northern Wairoa River as it threatened to spill over stopbanks.

A long-line fishing boat moored in the normally sheltered Mangonui Harbour sank, and a yacht was driven on to rocks there by winds of more than 100km/h.

No one was onboard the fishing boat at the time.

In Dargaville, emergency services used their ingenuity to stop a 40m-long forecourt roof at a petrol station blowing off and striking an LPG tank on Sunday.

Large trucks were parked in front of the service station to act as a windbreak and a digger rested its bucket on the roof.

The town's volunteer fire brigade was also called in to secure part of a church roof at Baylys Beach.


The high winds took their toll on the region's power lines and hundreds of homes were left with power that was, at best, intermittent.


The general manager of lines company Top Energy, Steve James, said the weather was so rough that at one stage the company considered pulling crews from the field due to dangerous winds.


He apologised to customers who rang to report faults during the storm but were greeted with a busy signal as the company's 200-call fault service was overloaded.


Some homes had no power for more than 12 hours but most supplies should have been restored by yesterday evening, Mr James said.


Northpower network services manager Calvin Whaley said about 6500 Northpower customers had no electricity for varying periods during the weekend.


Far North District Council spokesman Rick McCall said 16 Far North roads were cleared of debris or trees after the storm.


Foreshore Rd in Ahipara had taken a battering from large seas that washed part of the road away.


In Kohukohu, in the usually calm inner reaches of the Hokianga Harbour, waves washed over the road, bringing minor flooding to low-lying areas.


The Hokianga ferry service was suspended on Sunday but was running normally yesterday, Mr McCall said.


Staff at Woolworths in Dargaville were forced to sandbag their storeroom doors in the early hours of Monday and three boats were flipped at Te Kopuru wharf.


- NZPA