Severe winds forecast to hit West Coast

Cyclone Ita battered the West Coast last year. Photo / Greymouth Star

The worst winds since Cyclone Ita battered the West Coast last year are forecast to hit the area tomorrow - the first day of the whitebait season.

MetService is warning of severe gusts of 140km/h about Buller, Westland north of the glaciers, and Motueka from about midnight tonight.

Gusts could exceed 140km/h in western areas north of Westport.

The east to south-east winds could damage structures and powerlines, and make driving hazardous. The gales are predicted to ease early tomorrow afternoon.

Buller Mayor Garry Howard is urging people to be prepared. They should check their properties, be equipped to deal with power cuts and have essential supplies, he said.

"It's mainly about loose items around the property and being prepared to stay inside for 48 hours if required."

Buller Civil Defence staff were being briefed at 2pm today and he expected Civil Defence would be on standby overnight.

"It's one of those things - if we cry wolf too much and it doesn't happen people don't listen but it's better to be on the cautious side than not."

Buller was suffering enough from mining job losses without Mother Nature having a crack too, Mr Howard said.

"We certainly don't need it at the moment."

Buller Electricity chief executive Eamon Ginley said his staff were meeting this afternoon to hammer out contingency plans. They were getting lists of people on life-support medical equipment who relied on electricity.

Buller Electricity would have extra staff in its control room overnight to deal with calls. Staff had learned a lot from dealing with Cyclone Ita damage, Mr Ginley said.

His main message to the public was to stay clear of any downed power lines. "Don't assume they're dead."

Cyclone Ita caused millions of dollars of damage in Buller at Easter weekend last year. Between noon and 8pm on April 17, the gales gusted

to more than 100km/h every hour. The Westport News weather station recorded a top gust of 146km/h, while Buller's Landcorp farms clocked gusts above 300km/h.

The wind cut power, felled forests, ripped off roofs and knocked out Westport's water treatment station. Many dairy farmers were caught without

generators. Karamea was without power for two days until Buller Electricity brought in diesel generators, but they initially tripped because of the heavy load.

The decimation of native forests led to a special Act of Parliament, allowing wind-blown trees to be harvested.

Stories abounded of people who just missed being hit by trees or flying debris. A tree fell on a car travelling south from Westport, but no-one was hurt, and a child sustained a broken leg when a door fell on him.

Mr Howard said afterwards that the zero death toll was "amazing".

Storm damage cost his council around $678,000.

It cost Buller Electricity about $450,000 - mostly from trees falling on power lines.

- Westport News