Perilous Times and Climate Change
New Zealanders left without power as super storm slams nation
September 18, 2010 - 1:24PM
A storm the size of Australia whipped New Zealand Saturday leaving tens
of thousands of people without power and sending a stadium roof
crashing down.
The second natural disaster to hit the country in a fortnight lifted
roofs and uprooted trees as hurricane-force winds swept across the
country and lightning strikes ignited fires.
The South Island city of Christchurch escaped the worst of the storm
but continued to be rocked up a series of aftershocks up to magnitude
4.5 two weeks after a 7.0 earthquake caused billions of US dollars
worth of damage.
The storm, described by the independent
weatherwatch.co.nz website as
"one of the largest storms on the planet" and covering an area the size
of Australia stretched emergency services as it wreaked havoc across
the country
"Most of the calls were about fallen trees across roads or property,
and roofs lifting," said Steve Smith of the Fire Service northern
communications centre.
Nearly 100,000 people lost electricity supplies overnight Friday and by
Saturday afternoon 17,000 were still waiting to be reconnected.
Winds reached hurricane force on the coast west of the main city of
Auckland, said weatherwatch head analyst Philip Duncan as gusts up to
154 kilometres (96 miles) per hour swept in from the Tasman Sea.
In the lower North Island, there were more than 100 lightning, sparking
fires in at least one building and several trees.
In the Manawatu district north of Wellington flooding made roads
impassable.
"There's been quite a weather bomb go through there, and it's caused
havoc," Inspector Ken Climo, of police central communications said.
Snow was the biggest threat in the South Island where police advised
people to stay off the roads.
In the southern city of Invercargill the roof of a stadium which houses
a velodrome and indoor sports arena collapsed under the weight of snow
and police described roads in the areas as "treacherous".