Winds of up to 120kmh hit areas around the rally site near Oturehua, and also near Omakau, from about midnight on Saturday until yesterday morning, Sergeant Bruce Martin, of Alexandra, said.
Police attending incidents in the region were blown off their feet by the wind, and one officer's glasses were shattered by the wind, Sgt Martin said. Trees throughout the district blew over.
A new four-bay corrugated iron farm shed in Chatto Creek was badly damaged when its roller doors blew in. Omakau Fire Brigade Station Officer Ian Rietveld said the fire engine which attended that incident had difficulty staying on the road in the powerful gales.
Five motorcyclists were lucky to escape injury when they were blown off their bikes at the Tiger Hill cutting, between Chatto Creek and Omakau, he said. Police then closed the road to bikers between Omakau and Alexandra and later escorted groups of riders through the area once the road was reopened.
Sgt Martin said police had been on their way to Omakau about 6.45am yesterday to help man a ''fatigue stop'', providing food and hot drinks, when they came across the first rider who had been blown off his bike at the Tiger Hill cutting.
Police then met another group of riders about to travel through the same cutting and advised them not to, but they chose to travel through, Sgt Martin said.
About four of the group of 10 were then also blown off their bikes.
Police then closed the road between Omakau and Alexandra to motorcyclists. Many gathered at the hot food and drinks stand, outside Omakau police station.
Up to 400 riders waited there and sheltered at the Omakau Rugby Hall.
When the wind died down about 12.30pm, police escorted a group of motorcyclists through the Tiger Hill cutting to check it was safe, Sgt Martin said.
The rest of the 400 riders were then escorted by police through the cutting, in groups of 10 to 15, for the next hour.
Sergeant Derek Ealson praised the combined efforts of the Alexandra Lions Club and Central Otago road safety adviser Jo Robinson, who had organised the Omakau fatigue stop, and also the organisers of the rally.
The rally was, as always, impeccably run and security procedures had worked well for an isolated incident at the rally, Sgt Ealson said.
Two fire engines and five fire officers from Omakau had gone to the rally site after being called by organisers at about 1am yesterday morning to extinguish the large bonfire as a security measure, because of the high winds, he said.
One attendee who had been unhappy about the fire being put out confronted the fire officers, and when rally security staff approached the man he produced a hunting knife with a 15cm blade and threatened them.
One security guard distracted the man, while another tackled and disarmed him. Security guards then protected the man from other rally-goers unhappy about his actions, Sgt Ealson said.
A 49-year-old Kaiapoi man was charged with possession of an offensive weapon and will appear in the Alexandra District Court on June 26.
In another incident unrelated to the extreme weather, a 26-year-old Dunedin rider was taken by rescue helicopter to Dunedin Hospital at 4pm on Saturday after he crashed on the Dunstan Trail, near Paerau, while riding to the rally.
Sgt Ealson said the man had been part of a group in which one member's motorbike broke down. He had taken his helmet off while stopped and then rode away, without his helmet on.
The man later lost control of his bike, which flipped, landing twice on his head. He suffered serious head injuries. Police investigations were continuing.
Police and fire officers were called to various flooding incidents in Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell after heavy rain yesterday.
Gale force winds blew down a tree that blocked one lane of traffic near Wedderburn yesterday morning. Omakau police attended the incident and New Zealand Transport Agency contractors removed the tree.
Strong winds also blew a tree across the southbound lane of the Lake Hawea-Albert Town road yesterday morning. Police were called to the Maungawera hill shortly before 9am to direct traffic while the tree was removed.
By Pam Jones, additional reporting by Lucy Ibbotson.
