Fire service staff arrived about five minutes later and were at the scene for about 25 minutes, he said.
Severe weather watch remains in place
A severe weather watch remains in place for Otago although the worst has probably passed, the MetService says.
The weather watch was expected to remain until this afternoon with the strong northerlies bringing temperatures in the mid-20s for today and tomorrow, MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said.
As the region cleans up after the battering from wild winds on Sunday and yesterday, residents were warned to expect more.
"Unfortunately, we are in that spring time flow at the moment," Ms Murray said.
"We will be getting more winds, but it won't be as severe as what we have had."
Gusts of more than 150km/h thrashed parts of Otago and an gust of 196km/h was recorded at the Mid Dome weather station in exposed country near Lumsden, in Northern Southland, yesterday.
Temperatures of 23C were expected for coastal and inland Otago today and tomorrow, although a southerly change would cause cooler temperatures for the end of the working week.
Senior Sergeant Liz Waru said many concerns were reported to Southern police because of the winds, but police did not attend any serious incidents.
"High winds caused issues for traffic with multiple reports of trees down, limited visibility from dust storms and multiple fires started by lightning strikes," she said.
Fire crews called to more than 20 incidents
A Fire Service spokesman said firefighters were also kept busy by calls for help.
Fire crews in Southland and Otago were called to more than 20 incidents between 10pm on Sunday and noon yesterday.
Waitahuna and Balclutha firefighters were called to the Manuka Gorge about 11.30pm on Sunday after a tree was felled by wind and blocked the road, the spokesman said.
A power pole between Riverton and Otautau was set alight by arcing powerlines just before 9am yesterday.
However, the weather had not caused any serious issue for fire crews, he said.
IAG New Zealand corporate communications specialist Matthew Britton said the company had received about 70 claims by about noon yesterday as a result of the high winds.
"These claims were mainly for damage occurring in north and South Canterbury, the outskirts of Christchurch and Southland, with a small number for damage in the Otago area."
Ray Beardsmore, of Woodside Manor, near Outram, said the winds had uprooted three trees, including a 30m-tall Leyland cypress, on the property.
"[The wind] came down through here and has taken that out," he said.
"It must of been super strong gusts to do that."
The smoke stack of Balaclava School was also buckled by the gusts.
Principal Gary Marsh said he felt fortunate after the stack withheld the gusts.
"The chimney stack did go on a lean, but there was no damage to the buildings," he said.
Engineers yesterday removed the stack.
Delta general manager capability and risk Matt Ballard said all consumers on the Aurora Energy network were expected to have power returned by last night.
About 400 consumers in Dunedin and Central Otago lost power because of the wind, he said.
All high-voltage services were reconnected in the greater Dunedin area by 1.30pm yesterday and the power supply to Glenorchy was restored at 1pm.
Lines crews remained on standby last night because of the severe weather watch, he said.
A Queenstown Lakes District Council spokeswoman said part of Faulks Rd, in Wanaka, was closed yesterday afternoon after a large poplar tree was discovered in a "dangerous position".
The tree would be removed this morning and the status of the road updated at noon.
The spokeswoman said trees fell on two Wanaka tracks -- the Millennium Track near Glendhu Bay and the lakeside track near Eely Point.
The tracks were cleared yesterday and contractors were checking all council trails.
Wanaka Volunteer Fire Brigade member Tony Wellman said firefighters were called about 2pm when a tree brought power lines down on State Highway 6, near the intersection with Morris Rd, and started "smoking".
A power line in Morris Rd also snapped in the wind about 5.15pm. Traffic was diverted while the line was repaired.
The Clutha District Council's roading contractor responded, on Sunday and yesterday, to damaged and fallen trees on 10 roads throughout the district, a council spokeswoman said.
The fallen trees did not result in any road closures.
In Waitaki, council contractors faced only a small clean-up yesterday with only three callouts for branches and trees on roads.
Network Waitaki network manager David Paterson said some customers around the district experienced power cuts on Sunday and yesterday after trees or branches fell on lines or damaged poles.
Power to most customers was restored on Sunday, but Network Waitaki engineers were yesterday still working in the Katiki straight area, between Moeraki and Shag Point.
In Southland, PowerNet staff and contractors would take several days to restore electricity on the company's network after the worst winds in 20 years.
Chief executive Jason Franklin said about 11,000 properties were without electricity at the peak of the storm on Sunday.
As of 2pm yesterday, about 2000 properties were still without power.
The network - which covers about 70,000 customers in rural Southland, Eastern Southland, the Catlins and parts of Otago and East Otago - was affected "pretty much all over", he said.
PowerNet fielded many phone calls yesterday from dairy farmers wanting to know if electricity would be restored in time for milking, he said.
"We told them not to expect the power back on any time soon and to use generator back-up if they had it."
