Storm was really fast: all is okay at my place

Somehow Mickle and Zebby escaped the worst. All we got was lots of horizontal rain, sleet and hail with a rapidly descending temperature. Plus confirmation the landlord of next door now needs to do some guttering down-pipe maintenance. But elsewhere - from Radio New Zealand's news:

Updated at 11:37pm on 12 March 2010

A man has been taken to hospital after suffering an electric shock in the intense storm that blasted through the Wellington region, cutting power to up to 25,000 customers on Friday.

The weather bomb also hit Marlborough, Wairarapa and regions further north.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter service - which flew the Waikanae man, 63, to Wellington Hospital - says he was directing traffic around a power line.

MetService recorded 3500 lightning strikes as the southerly punched through Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa.

In the capital, winds gusted up to 140 kilometres an hour, tearing off roofs, felling trees and bringing down power lines.

Wellington Electricity Lines Ltd says up to 25,000 customers were cut off, with the worst affected suburbs Upper Hutt, Naenae, Belmont, Newlands, Evans Bay and Island Bay.

Company spokesperson Damien Batey says its call centre struggled to cope with the number of alerts rung in by the public.

Mr Batey says all of the company's available field resources were out, and would be working overnight.

He asked for customers to be patient in the interim.
Northward path

MetService duty forecaster Heath Gullery says the weather bomb tracked north during the evening.

On the west coast it went through Horowhenua, and shortly before 8pm Wanganui, heading for Taranaki.

On the east coast it hit Hawke's Bay mid-evening, heading for Gisborne before moving across Coromandel and Auckland, where it is expected to weaken, in the early morning.
Wellington damage

A mini-tornado ripped off the auditorium roof and dumped piles of iron in front the administration block at Samuel Marsden Collegiate in Karori*.

School principal Jenny Williams says the winds rushed through at 4.20pm. She says no-one was injured but had it been half an hour earlier, students would have been coming out of classes.

Mini-tornados were also reported in Hutt Valley.

At St Bernard's College in Lower Hutt, the wind blew iron stacked for re-roofing around and blew over a wire mesh construction fence.

An alert for a kayaker missing in Wellington Harbour turned out to be a sighting of a marker buoy, but the police launch was checking if anyone else was in trouble.

Emergency services received more than 200 weather-related calls.

Wellington police say they had twice as many calls as usual in the two hours since the storm hit, and the Fire Service had all its trucks on the roads attending to storm-related callouts.
Trains halted

Buses replaced train services on the Hutt Valley line, with trees blown on to the rail tracks at Epuni. The Wairarapa line was also affected.

Tranz Metro said shortly before 8pm services were beginning to run again, although it expected delays for the rest of the evening.

Interislander sailings continued and, despite large waves in Cook Strait, a spokesperson said the service was running to time on Friday evening.

Numerous flights in and out of Wellington Airport were delayed, as airline staff worked to clear a backlog of passengers.

MetService says wind gusts of close to 140 kilometres were recorded at the waterfront and airport, and in Kelburn.
Marlborough hit

Rescue teams freed a teenage boy trapped under a tree at Rarangi near Blenheim. The 15-year-old was taken by helicopter to Wairau Hospital with injuries to his back, and a leg.

Hail several centimetres thick coated the roads near Kaikoura, and forced drivers off the road.

A group of American tourists hit by hailstones while walking on Kaikoura Peninsula had to take shelter off the track.

Kaikoura Constable Lindsay Tilbury says the storm arrived suddenly and with great intensity, which would have caught out the walkers, who were in their sixties and seventies.

Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

* Karori is the suburb next to where I am. This storm certainly arrived very, very fast. Mickle and Zebbycat are very thankful we were safe throughout. And, wouldn't you know it, Saturday will be fine, lots of sun and moderate wind from the (warm) North.