WILD STORM WREAKS HAVOC

Emergency services were flat out in the Wanganui region over the weekend as gale-force winds brought down trees and power lines, and 26mm of rain flooded houses and triggered landslips.
Two houses in Turoa Rd and one house on Bastia Hill have been evacuated because of slips, and others at Koitiata and Marton due to flooding.
Wanganui and Rangitikei district councils both had civil defence staff in place.
Wanganui's engineers worked on a 24-hour operational basis, co-ordinating the priority of responses. Council staff also provided 24-hour phone cover.
Power was out for large areas of the region on Saturday, including Wanganui itself in Springvale, Aramoho and St John's Hill.
Three power poles in Peakes Rd went down at 10am, and others in Smithfield Rd, Karaka St and Papaiti Rd later.
By Saturday night power was restored to most houses, apart from those in Fordell, Turakina, Leedstown, Brunswick and part of St John's Hill. By last night it was restored to most places - but not Waverley, Brunswick, the Turakina Valley and parts of St John's Hill.
Wanganui's Fire Service had all five crews out on Saturday, starting at 9.20am with a vehicle crash in Ingestre St. They went on to a lifting roof in Karaka St, downed lines in Smithfield Rd and Great North Rd, fallen trees in Brunswick Rd, and power lines down in Papaiti Rd.
They also pumped water off properties in Devon Rd, Willis St and Parsons St.
Marton's fire crews were on the run all day, with a lightning strike to cottages at Nga Tawa school, and flooding in Grey St, Barnett Rd, Skerman St, Bond St and Pukepapa Rd. Chief Fire Officer Paul Hudson said one house in Pukepapa Rd had water through it for the second time in two weeks and the residents had left.
The State Highway 1 underpass at Calico Line filled up with 10 million litres of water. A car became stuck in it earlier in the day and had to be towed out. Another drove past road closed signs and went in about 10pm. It also needed towing.
There was a dramatic moment in Patea on Saturday when power lines came down and wrapped around a moving car.
The driver stopped and he and a passenger got out, leaving two children sleeping in the back seat.
Patea Chief Fire Officer said the Fire Service quickly freed the children and removed the power lines.
The winds were the strongest to hit the area in several years, he said. They lifted roofs on some homes and brought down trees on farm land.
A car slipped down a bank on a country road during a torrential rainstorm. The driver was uninjured but the car was a write-off.
Ohakune got rain rather than snow. A small amount of snow was predicted on the Desert Rd section of SH1 yesterday.
That's if people can get to it. On Saturday several slips came down on the Parapara section of SH4, a huge one on SH1 between Mangaweka and Taihape and a smaller one near Utiku, and others on SH3 on Ratana hill. Motorists made some big detours, with one man saying a 50-minute return trip from Palmerston North took him three hours.
The Ratana hill slips defeated the attempts of a Wellington light opera company to perform on Saturday night. Their operetta, Die Fledermaus, was cancelled.
Big waves were breaking offshore at Castlecliff, with 5m swells at Kai Iwi Beach. The Wanganui District Council is advising people to stay away from Mowhanau Stream, because pump station failures may have allowed sewage in.