Wild weather lashing the South Island's interior has caused widespread damage, and many roads remain closed owing to slips or flooding. Photo / Supplied
Wild weather lashing the South Island's interior has caused widespread damage, and many roads remain closed owing to slips or flooding. Photo / Supplied
More severe weather is to come, with MetService issuing a raft of weather warnings for Thursday.
Southwesterly gales are due to close in on Wellington and Wairarapa tomorrow as a deep low develops east of central New Zealand.
🌬️ Hey Wellington, check out the winds headed for you on Thursday!
🔴 = risk of gusts over 100 km/h 🌊 Big winds = big waves (5-7 m)
The wind will be coupled with drenching rain & elevation snow across the upper SI + lower NI, so it certainly won't be the nicest of days! pic.twitter.com/OxKetPmkpK
It brings strong and unsettled south to southwest flow to eastern areas from northern parts of Canterbury through to Gisborne, the forecaster says.
Most Interislander sailings will be cancelled tomorrow due to the heavy swell warnings in place, with waves forecast to be 5m high early Thursday afternoon, rising to 7m in the late afternoon.
"Safety of our passengers and crew is very important and we have made the call to cancel most sailings tomorrow. All Aratere sailings in both directions and the 2.15pm Kaitaki (Picton to Wellington) and the 8.30pm Kaitaki (Wellington to Picton) sailings are cancelled," Interislander said in a post on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the rain began to subside in Southland today, and many highways are reopening after being blocked due to rockfalls, slips and fallen trees.
The Aoraki/Mt Cook Highway (SH80) reopened before 2pm today but will be closed overnight from 6pm to 7am.
The Haast Pass (SH6) from Lake Hawea in Otago to the top of the Haast Pass on West Coast reopened this afternoon at 3pm and Lindis Pass (SH8) between Tarras and Omarama is reopened at 5.30pm.
Waka Kotahi urges motorists to take care on these roads as flooding has damaged the highway in many places.
Lewis Pass to Nelson remains closed due to rockfall and Lake Ohau Village continues to be cut off after flooding swept away a bridge on Lake Ohau Rd on Tuesday.
Lake Ohau Lodge and Snow Fields co-owner Mike Neilson told the Otago Daily Times about 150 guests were stuck at the lodge yesterday, and other guests booked in were unable to check in, but it was well-equipped to cater for everyone.
''We don't have to escape — we've got all the food. I've got plenty of whisky — so there's no rush,'' Neilson said.
Lake Ohau Lodge posted to Instagram this evening, stating that repairs to the town's only bridge had begun and they are hopeful the bridge will reopen on Friday.
Some guests have escaped Lake Ohau Village by using four-wheel drive vehicles to blaze a trail across farmland, 1 News reported.
Lake Ohau Lodge posted to Instagram this evening stating that repairs to the bridge had begun and they are hopeful the bridge will reopen on Friday. Photo / LakeOhauLodge, Instagram.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said that respite is in sight for the last weekend of the school holidays, however, with the wild weather starting to clear near the end of the working week.
"While most Kiwis can still expect cloudy conditions, the windy, sodden conditions of the week gone by will be somewhat more of a memory - making for a nice last weekend of the school holidays."
