Wind worries remain in quake-hit Christchurch

Dust from dried liquefaction silt partially obscures residents leaving the eastern hills suburbs for safer ground. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Strong winds that were set to hit Christchurch this afternoon did not eventuate, but residents are warned that they should secure loose roofs and beware of the threat of falling masonry.

Mayor Bob Parker this morning said there was "great concern" about strong winds forecast to come over the Southern Alps, potentially stirring up the thousands of tonnes of silt and dust generated by last Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake.

"The forecasters are now telling us that those strong winds appear to be less likely, and we hope that is the case. What we don't want are very strong winds," he said at tonight's Civil Defence briefing.

"We can relax a little bit around the wind storm, but we won't relax too much because the weather forecasters aren't always right. Let's hope this time they've got it absolutely right on."

But tonight the MetService issued a strong wind warning for inland areas of Otago and Canterbury, including the foothills and Banks Peninsula.

North to northwest gales were expected to develop tomorrow night. In the nine hours from midnight tomorrow severe gale gusts of 130km/h could be expected inland about the Canterbury foothills and over higher parts of Banks Peninsula.

Severe gales were not expected in Christchurch city but west to northwest wind gusts could reach about 90km/h from early Wednesday morning until early Wednesday afternoon, the MetService said.

Mr Parker said blustery conditions could hamper search and rescue operations in areas where there was loose masonry.

Residents were asked to secure loose roofing that lifted in the quake.

He said there were concerns that an estimated 180,000 tonnes of silt and dust could be spread around by the wind.

"We don't think there is an immediate health risk from toxicity - but by itself it is an irritant," Mr Parker said.

The dust could upset people with respiratory problems, he said.

The silt was expected to be cleared to temporary landfills by the end of the week.

Mr Parker said that in the city's eastern suburbs the fine dust came up as vehicles were driven down the streets.

"Clearly if you have a major wind it will be extremely unpleasant for people over there, let alone the damage that has happened to roofing iron and other things that have already been loosened through this savage earthquake."

People should be careful around trees affected by the quake in the wind.

Fire Service spokesman Russell Wood said rescue teams were aware of the high wind potential and what impact that might have on search and rescue operations tomorrow.

"It would seem that it's not going to be as bad as perhaps anticipated, but we'll keep appraising that as the time comes, and the USAR (urban search and rescue) teams will make a judgement as to whether the wind is so severe that it may have to curtail temporarily operations, so we'll just keep a watching brief on that," he said.

- NZPA