Parts of the Wellington region have been battered by strong winds, widespread flooding and a tornado that damaged homes and businesses along the Kāpiti Coast throughout Thursday.
Businesses along Omahi St in Waikanae were damaged after workers described how a tornado ripped through the street bringing down two large trees and other debris.
Mary Cameron of Beaver Tree Services said the winds had felled trees near their Omahi St premises in Waikanae. “There’s a tree through the roof and it smashed our truck window and hurt one of our boys,” Cameron said.
ACS Ltd owner Tim O’Connor was looking out his office window and saw some unusual clouds when the wind picked up with a “rumble”. Two large Norfolk pines then crashed through his warehouse roof on Omahi St. “The building was vibrating. We were inside. I was holding the office door from flying open.”
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MONIQUE FORD/Stuff
Steven Trueman of Higgins assisting in the the clean up of Norfolk pine debris in Omahi Street, Waikanae
Theresa Joyce was on Kapanui Rd in Waikanae when the tornado hit. The wind was going in different directions and she felt her house was about to take off. Her house suffered minor damage, with cast iron furniture blown around in the garden, but the “scary” incident had shaken her.
Firefighters also responded to a number of calls in the Waikanae and Paraparaumu area, said Lyn Crosson of Fire and Emergency.
Five houses in Paraparaumu had been reported with roof and structural damage, along with two in Waikanae which were damaged by falling trees where the occupant of one car had also been moderately injured, she said.
Monique Ford/Stuff
From left: Steven Trueman of Higgins and Tim O’Connor of ACS Ltd where the trunk of a Norfolk pine came through the roof of the Omahi St business in Waikanae.
Talia Hart’s side gate in Waikanae was blown off by the tornado. She was watching TV with her daughter in the lounge when the tornado hit.
They heard thunder and saw the sky going really dark before and expected to be heavy rain, but the wind started to blow the windows open and they ran straight for the hallway for cover. “It lasted for a couple of minutes.”
Lyn Allday, who has lived on the Kāpiti Coast for 26 years, was at work when the tornado tore down a large tree that was in a neighbouring residential property.
Her partner was at their home on Kapanui Rd and witnessed the tree fall down onto their own boundary line, totalling their fence and narrowly missing their car.
Talia Hart
Talia Hart’s side gate in Waikanae was blown off by the tornado.
The couple had insurance, but Allday said the incident was “quite frightening and very noisy”.Allday said in her nearly three decades living on the coast she had never experienced tornadoes, and it was “freaky” there had now been two in the wider Kāpiti area within the space of two weeks.
Wellington Region Emergency Management Office warned coastal residents in Porirua and Kāpiti to prepare for heavy swells for 24 hours from midnight.
“The waves have the potential to be higher with more energy which could cause more wave run-up and surface flooding than what was seen last week,” regional manager Jeremy Holmes said.
MONIQUE FORD/Stuff
Norfolk pine trunk falls through roof of ACS Ltd, Omahi Street, Waikanae
Beach users and boaties should take extra care and consider delaying any trips, he said.
“Porirua residents in Tītahi Bay, Plimmerton and Pukerua Bay could see high waves, erosion and impacts to seawalls and surface flooding caused by waves overtopping onto roads in these areas. We advise residents in these areas to park their cars away from the seaward side of the road if possible.”
Kāpiti residents are also being warned that waves could overtop seawalls causing surface flooding and pushing debris onto roads. The emergency management office is urging motorists to use Transmission Gully rather than State Highway 59 if they can.
Jericho Rock-Archer/Stuff
The Wellington region has been hit by a phenomenon called thunderstorm “training”, with multiple waves of heavy rain and thunderstorms blowing through.
Earlier in the day the Wellington region was hit by a phenomenon called thunderstorm “training” which initially hit between 1am and 4am, Loots said.
The storms lined up one after the next, bringing heavy rainfall and surface flooding, from Wellington city to Upper Hutt, with rainfall rates of up to 100 millimetres an hour.
High levels of rainfall had forced partially treated and treated sewage to be discharged from wastewater treatment plants at Rukutane Point, Porirua and Waiwhetū Stream, in Seaview, Wellington Water reported.
An issue with the main electricity supply prompted Wellington Regional Hospital to activate its generators, though there were no reported disruptions to patient care. Parliament also experienced a power outage earlier this afternoon after heavy rain and lightning hit the capital.
Jericho Rock-Archer/Stuff
Motorists were asked to take extra care with many roads experiencing surface flooding as well as the possibility of manhole coverings being lifted.
About 400 homes were without power in the Hutt Valley suburbs of Whitemans Valley, Mangaroa, Blue Mountains, Maidstone, and Wallaceville until it was restored about 4pm.
Flooding was also affecting areas in the northern suburbs such as Johnsonville, Khandallah, Newlands, Churton Park and KaiwharawharaPreviously suspended train services had resumed as normal.