Owners urged to check boats after storm

Boat owners have been urged to use the relative calm of both Auckland's harbours today to check their vessels after the worst storm in years created havoc over the weekend.

The storm hit with little warning on Saturday afternoon, causing many boats to drag their anchors or break free.

It also brought down trees and power lines, ripped roofs off houses and cut power to thousands of households.

By first light today exhausted line crews were still trying to get power back to about 1000 homes.

Vector spokeswoman Charlene White said the crews had been working overnight and were very tired but hoped to have power restored to most houses today.

Coastguard Northern Region spokeswoman Jo Ottey said Saturday was "manic" as boats were blown off their moorings and several were washed ashore.

Most hit sandy beaches and were relatively undamaged but the worst call was to Waiheke Island where a boat with eight people aboard was washed on to rocks.

The occupants scrambled ashore and climbed a rock face to call for help. None was hurt but the boat was badly damaged.

She said boat owners should get out today to check their moorings ahead of more predicted thunderstorms and heavy rain.

She said after wind gusts to 140km/h, more high winds were predicted on both the Waitemata Harbour and Manukau Harbour and the best advice the coastguard could offer was for boaties to stay at home.

She said a yacht race from the Akarana Yacht Club was not called off and three entrants got into trouble on Saturday.

It was the skippers' decision to continue with the race in spite of wind warnings, but it was not recommended by the coastguard.

She said several coastguard skippers were called out to cope with the emergency calls.

Ms White said power cuts were restricted mostly to the North Shore but there were isolated pockets elsewhere where houses were affected.

"It has been pretty full on for the last 36 to 48 hours," she said.

In some areas, streetlights fed by underground cables remained on while houses fed by overhead lines lost their power.

Some of the power was also cut when lightning hit sub-stations early on Saturday afternoon.

She said they had little warning. Had they known earlier they would have had emergency crews on standby.

"It came by surprise and was particularly brutal," she said.

- NZPA