Wellington mops up but storm power cuts, travel chaos lingers
A damaged car on Rintoul St, Wellington, following Thursday's storm.
Photo:
Bill Hickman / RNZ
The blustery wind and driving rain have died down in the capital but power cuts, ferry cancellations, flight backlogs and rubberneckers are causing the biggest nuisance as the city mops up from
Thursday's storm.
Hundreds of properties are still without power and Wellington Electricity warned that could continue for some until the
middle of next week.
Some areas had power restored on Thursday but continued high winds on Friday saw some new outages, and repeat outages, as trees and debris were blown into powerlines, a spokesperson said.
Windy weather in Johnsonville, Wellington.
Photo:
Supplied/Jillian Talbot
"Our first priority is to attend any faults which present a safety concern, with our next priority being to restore power to the largest affected areas," they said.
"As there is significant fault repair work still to be undertaken, we expect power to be restored by the middle of next week. "
On Newtown's Owen Street, Nat Chesterfield and her flat of seven people - plus the cat - had been without power since about 1.30pm on Thursday, when it went out with a bang.
"The power was flickering on the power lines just outside my house and there were a few loud explosion sounds," she said.
"Then it was a final explosion and it all went out."
Chesterfield had gone into the office today for a shower and to charge her devices.
She and her flatmates were layering up with clothing and blankets to keep warm and had a gas stove so they could at least boil water for a cuppa.
Meanwhile, Kezia Thompson and her partner had packed up and gone to her sister's place in Upper Hutt.
It would be "pretty stressful" if the power cut stretched into next week, she said - but she was more concerned for people who may not have anywhere else to go.
Both Whakamaru - the Wellington City Mission's Newtown facility - and the Newtown Community Centre were open for people to charge devices and get hot food and drinks.
Council contractors were forced to call police as people tried to get through roadblocks on the South Coast.
Some Wellington City Councillors told the public to stop rubbernecking and allow contractors to clear the areas.
A fallen tree outside Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.
Photo:
RNZ/Samuel Rillstone
Ben McNulty said people "going for a casual gawk are slowing things down considerably".
Nurredin Abdurahman said the police were there to "make sure people who are doing their job on the ground will not be disrupted" - but also to keep people from injuring themselves.
Photo:
RNZ/Reece Baker
Coastal roads across Lower Hutt and Wellington reopened on Friday after being battered by swells and debris, but both city councils asked people to take care and avoid unnecessary travel while contractors clean up.
Marine Parade closed at Days Bay.
Photo:
RNZ / Elizabeth Brown
And after 200 flights were cancelled in and out of the capital on Thursday,
airlines were scrambling to rebook tens of thousands of people - some of whom got their sleeping bags out to kip on the airport floor.
Most flights went ahead as scheduled on Friday, but travellers told RNZ it had been a frustrating and pricey process to rebook.
Wellington Airport, 200 flights were cancelled in and out of the capital on Thursday.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Air New Zealand said it would take days to clear the backlog, and ferry operators were facing the same fate.
As sea swells continued to rage,
both Interislander and Bluebridge cancelled sailings until Saturday morning.
Island Bay, Wellington, during the stormy weather on Thursday.
Photo:
RNZ / Mary Argue
They were putting on extra sailings over the weekend to get people across the Cook Strait.
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