Postie missing as violent storm batters lower North Island

4.15pm UPDATE

UPDATE - A search has been mounted for a Wairarapa woman postie who has been missing since early today in atrocious weather.

Masterton police Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said rural post worker Erlinda Warrington left her Bideford home, about 40km northeast of Masterton, at 5.30am for the 30 minute drive to the main town.

The 46-year-old has not been seen since and police were "definitely" concerned, Mr Burr said.

While winds had averaged 100km/h at coastal Castlepoint the weather had been calmer inland and a helicopter had been brough in to search for Ms Warrington.

Police had also searched all accessible roads between Masterton and Bideford and called on farmers to check their properties.

It was possible Ms Warrington had had an accident and had set out on foot or was trapped on a road closed by slips.

She is described as Filipino, of moderate build with shoulder length wavy brown hair. She was driving a Mitsubishi L200 utility registration YE7569.

A crew member on freight ferry Kent has a broken leg after a rough crossing of the wind-lashed Cook Strait overnight.

Wellington harbourmaster Mike Pryce said the crew member was taken to hospital after the Strait Shipping vessel berthed with the aid of a tug shortly after midnight.

Captain Pryce said swells of up to 14.5 metres were recorded at Baring Head overnight, with 5m at the harbour entrance.

The CentrePort tug boat Kupe was later called in to assist the Kent after the vessel began breaking its mooring lines at Glasgow Wharf.

Capt Pryce said the Kupe helped the Kent to reberth about 7.30am.

He said the cargo ship Tasman Pathfinder, which was due at 9.30am today, had been instructed not to enter port because of the conditions, and because a pilot would be unable to board.

That situation would be reviewed at 4.30pm.

Capt Pryce said four boats had also broken away from their moorings in Porirua Harbour in the high winds, and were now aground.

Air New Zealand this afternoon cancelled all flights in and out of Wellington International Airport for the rest of the day.

Airline spokesman Mike Tod said 9000 domestic and international passengers had been affected by the cancellation of 190 flights today.

"It's one of the worst disruptions that Air New Zealand has had for several years," he said.

"We will review the situation early tomorrow morning. We have to see what the weather's going to do."

The cancellation included Air New Zealand's "main trunk" flights as well as regional links -- Mt Cook Airlines, Air Nelson and Eagle Air.

Mr Tod said as well as the winds being too strong for planes to take off and land, it was too dangerous for baggage handlers to work.

This also meant Qantas flights were grounded, as the Australian carrier used Air New Zealand baggage handlers.

Homes are being evacuated after several properties in Porirua, Lower Hutt and the Wairarapa were flooded during today's storm which wreaked havoc across the lower North Island.

Porirua police Senior Sergeant Derek Chapman said two homes in Porirua East were evacuated this morning after heavy rain caused flooding. He did not know if more evacuations were likely.

Two houses in Carterton and four houses in southern Wairarapa were being prepared for evacuation and some evacuations in Lower Hutt were under way, a Wellington Regional Council spokeswoman said.

MetService forecaster Marie Grey earlier said a "decent amount" of rain had fallen with 60mm recorded for the Wairarapa, 130mm for Orongorongo range, and 110mm for the Wainui catchment -- in the Hutt Valley.

Flood warnings are in place for four eastern Wairarapa Rivers.

Manawatu regional council Horizons is monitoring the Makino and Mangaone streams after more than 30cm of rain fell in the past 24 hours.

Horizons and Manawatu District Council staff are in the area and the police, fire service and army are on standby.

River levels are high and there are unconfirmed reports of some areas where floodwaters are at the tops of stopanks.

Greater Wellington Regional Council Wairarapa flood co-ordination manager Steve Blakemore said up to 100mm of rain fell in eastern Wairarapa hill country over the past 12 hours.

Flood warnings were issued for the Whareama, Tinui, Huangaroa and Lower Ruamahanga rivers.

Extensive surface flooding causing some problems in the Wairarapa valley and towns.

"Rain has eased off in the valley but rain in the Tararuas is now starting to have an effect on the western rivers," Mr Blakemore said.

"Further rain is expected and snow melt may also be having an impact. We are not yet able to predict when the lower rivers will peak."

He said the Lower Ruamahanga River was still rising and the floodways were expected to operate.

The gale was today compared with the storm that sank the interisland ferry Wahine with the loss of 51 lives in 1968.

MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said the Wahine storm was more severe with gusts of over 200km/h while today they were reaching 180km/h.

"But it's the same sort of animal," Mr McDavitt told NZPA.

"This one is up there but it's not quite top of the list... It's extreme all right. Atrocious."

He said the low causing the storm was in a similar position on the weather map as the one that caused the 1968 storm.

"This low is between New Zealand and the Chatham Islands area and it's looping around itself and then it's going to be moving off.

"While it does the loop we get the wind and the rain and the snow. Conditions will remain more of the same until the low starts moving away which will be later today."

Mr McDavitt said the storm had behaved as predicted and warnings had been issued days in advance.

Wellington and the Wairarapa bore the brunt of the wild weather with no planes, trains, or ferries operating out of the capital.

Cars also struggled in coastal areas as waves dumped seaweed and debris on roads. Further north heavy snow closed scores of roads cutting off some rural areas.

Slips closed the Paraparaumu and Johnsonville Transmetro lines into the city and waves swamped the Hutt Valley line. All ferry sailings across Cook Strait were cancelled.

The Wairarapa was also under siege with flood warnings in place on several rivers.

MetService forecaster Marie Grey said Wellington was battered by winds up to nearly 180km/h overnight. She said part of Wellington airport had lost its roof -- wind speeds recorded at the airport had averaged 87km/h with gusts up to 115km/h.

In Mt Kaukau, near the city, the average wind blast was 133km/h gusting up to 178km/h. The average wind speed in Cook Strait was 130km/h gusting up to 160km/h.

Severe southerly gales in Wairarapa, Hawke's Bay and Kaikoura had eased by mid-morning -- at the height of the storm the Wairarapa was suffering average wind speeds of 100km/h.

Snow fell to 300m along the Kaikoura coast. Heavy snow warnings had been lifted for the North Island expect for Central Plateau.

A heavy rain warning remained in place for parts of Wellington, Wairarapa, the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges, Taihape and the higher parts of Manawatu and coastal hills and ranges of Hawke's Bay.

Wellington and the outer Marlborough Sounds were still under a strong wind warning with gales about 90km/h gusting up to 140km/h expected to last until later today.

Tranz Metro spokeswoman Helen Keyes said all train lines into Wellington were closed, affecting about 12,000 commuters.

The Johnsonville and Paraparaumu lines were closed by slips and downed trees and power lines. Massive waves had swamped the Hutt line.

Part of the roof of the Koru Lounge at Wellington Airport had been blown off, partially flooding the interior, and a Boeing 737 parked on the tarmac overnight was being inspected for possible damage.

Meanwhile, Interisland Line spokesman Peter Monk said hundreds of people were affected by all ferry sailings being suspended.

The Fire Service was called out to "hundreds" of incidents overnight with roofs blown off, fences down and other widespread damage.

Roads closed in the central and lower North Island included State Highway 1 at Taihape, SH49 between Ohakune and Waiouru SH1 between Rangipo and Taihape, SH47 between National Park and Junction SH41 and SH47, Napier-Taihape Road between Napier and Taihape. The Rimutaka Hill Rd was also closed.

Several roads in the Wairarapa were closed including in Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa. A Wairarapa District Council spokeswoman said the Huangaroa River had flooded over a bridge crossing it.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said power lines and trees were down around the city.

Lines company United Networks said hundreds of people were without power throughout Wellington, mostly because of clashing lines and fallen trees across wires.

Mr MacLean urged motorist to delay travel as many roads were closed or treacherous: Moa Point Road was closed due to huge seas breaking over the southern end of the Wellington Airport runway, Stewart Duff Drive, on the eastern side of the airport, was closed because cladding was being blown off a hangar, the Hutt Rd between Ngaio Gorge Rd and Onslow Rd was closed because of lifting roofing at the Placemakers site, Makara Rd and Ohariu Valley Rd closed by fallen trees and power lines and a road in suburban Khandallah was closed by a slip. Some walking racks were closed.

Mr MacLean said panels had blown off two buildings at Queens Wharf on the waterfront, and windows have been blown in at the former Herd St Post Office Building.

Gale force winds were hammering Marlborough this morning, disrupting the travel plans of hundreds and tearing up properties in the outer Marlborough Sounds.

Ferries have been cancelled, flights affected at Marlborough Airport and up to 150 homes on the east coast south of Ward -- including the Ure River area, Kekerengu and Clarence -- have been without power since 9pm yesterday.

Joe Heberley, who lives on Arapawa Island at the entrance of the Tory Channel, said the weather was "shocking" with 80 knot winds, six metre rolls and a "huge sea running".

He said that kind of weather was seldom seen .

The neighbour's shed had blown down, the Heberley garden was torn up and "we are dripping in salt water".

Mr Heberley said the wind seemed to hit its peak about 4am today. If it continued into the day he doubted buildings would be able to handle the buffeting.

"Everything is rattling and shaking. Let's hope we have had the worst of it."

He said the Marlborough harbourmaster had made the right decision in closing the entrance to Tory Channel last night, saying "nobody should be out there. It would be ridiculous to go out in that".

Marlborough harbourmaster Alex van Wijngaarden said reports from people living at the entrance put the wind speed at 80 knots and the conditions were the worst they had seen.

This was only the third time he had closed the entrance in 10 years, he said.

"This is an absolutely unusual event."

Tory Channel was only closed during the hours of darkness, as it was difficult for a ship's master to make a call about sea height, but it would be unlikely anything would move through today.

Mr van Wijngaarden said he would continue to monitor conditions in Cook Strait before making a decision about whether to close the Tory Channel entrance tonight.

Winds gusting up to 120km/h battered Hawke's Bay overnight, toppling trees, ripping roofing iron from houses and closing roads.

Unison linesmen worked through the night in freezing, wet conditions to restore electricity to more than 300 homes around Sherenden after branches fell onto lines. Company spokesman Bill Hewitt said at times the 24 workers had difficulty staying on their ladders because of the wind.

Power was restored by 3.30am although some residents in Takapau were still without power this morning after a line was felled.

Snow forecast to 300m closed the Napier- Taupo highway from 11.30pm until 6am and Transit New Zealand's Hawke's Bay manager Neville Harkness said graders working overnight on the road were called in to tow out trucks caught in the blizzard.

The Napier-Taihape Rd remained closed from the Kaweka Camp as snow continued to fall on the ranges.

Farmers would not know the full extent of lamb losses until the weather cleared, but expected them to be high after days of bitter southerly rain.

Patoka farmer Jackie Paterson had lost about 100 lambs from their stud flock.

"Everything born in the last three days is gone," she said.

Conditions in Hawke's Bay had eased this morning as the region lay in the shelter of the low, but could pick up again with gale force winds gusting up to 80km/h at times.

- NZPA