Gusts up to 167kmh (90 knots) were recorded in parts of Otago on Thursday night including at Taiaroa Head and Goat Island. The MetService's Beaufort scale suggests winds between 153kmh to 176kmh have the force of a category two hurricane.
It was strong enough to rip the roof off a farmhouse in Henley, south of Dunedin. Farmer Shane Hildred arrived home to find roof material scattered among trees at the back of his property. Lines company Aurora dealt with more than 7600 homes without electricity.
Aurora marketing and communications manager Gary Johnson said power to 7600 Otago customers had been restored by 5pm yesterday. Another 38 were still without electricity but Aurora was ‘‘working hard to restore power to the remaining ... customers''.
There were isolated outages for customers in Dunedin and Central Otago not on the Aurora network, he said.
The Dunedin City Council tweeted last night that power outages in West Taieri were affecting water supplies and customers could run out of water.
The council was working closely with Delta to get water treatment and supply re-established as soon as possible and as a precaution was providing a water tanker at Momona for drinking or personal hygiene.
The Fire Service dealt with 35 wind-related callouts across Otago and Southland between 12pm Thursday and 6.30am yesterday, while police responded to 39 wind-related incidents between 4pm Thursday and 8am yesterday.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen, of Dunedin, said most calls were from rural areas between Milton and Waitati, concerning ‘‘trees down''.
Port Otago chief executive Geoff Plunket said winds blew ‘‘consistently'' at about 130kmh at Taiaroa Head. Staff were monitoring stations at Taiaroa Head, Goat Island and at Port Chalmers.
MetService meteorologist Derek Holland said winds gusting to 152kmh were recorded at Taiaroa Head and gusts of 124kmh were recorded at Dunedin Airport.
