KEY POINTS:
Southland electricity supplier PowerNet was this afternoon working to reconnect the last of about 2500 homes which lost power in this week's windstorms.
PowerNet operations manager Gary Pritchard said it was hoped the 60 remaining properties without power since Tuesday would be reconnected this evening.
About 40 properties at Curio Bay were still without power and 20 others awaiting reconnection, mainly isolated rural properties, were "scattered around" Southland.
Mr Pritchard said the company had brought in extra contractors from outside Southland to assist restoration.
Wind gusts up to 140km/h battered parts of Southland and Otago on Tuesday, raising roofs, felling trees, tipping over trucks and cutting power to about 2500 homes.
Canterbury was hit last night, with power cut to thousands of homes for about half an hour after a tree crashed through a power line and lightning hit a transformer at Mt Pleasant in Christchurch.
A Christchurch schoolgirl was killed when she was blown into the path of a bus by a strong gust of wind just after 3pm.
Police said 12-year-old Jennifer Barnes was standing on a traffic island in suburban Northcote when she was hit by a strong wind gust and fell into the path of a bus travelling north.
She died in hospital early this morning from her injuries.
The MetService today forecast westerlies rising to gale force about Foveaux Strait as another weak front approached.
Gusts up to 120km/h could be expected this afternoon along the coast eastwards from Bluff. The winds should turn southwest and ease slowly from tomorrow morning.
The MetService said although the wind gusts had the potential to cause damage to trees, power lines and roofs, they were not expected to be as "widespread or severe as the winds of Tuesday and Wednesday".
Mr Pritchard said he was aware of the fresh wind warning, but shrugged it off as "just one of those things".
"Thankfully, at least today, so far, has been a good day," he told NZPA.
Contractors were able to make progress in restoring power to many properties.
"A lot of weak spots (in the network) have now been found and we'll have to wait and see whether the forthcoming front identifies any further weak spots or creates further problems," Mr Pritchard said.
"As it stands at the moment, almost everyone has been restored," he said.
"We'll just have to prepare for this evening and see which way the weather comes."
- NZPA
