Oamaru-based reporter Andrew Ashton travelled to Waimate yesterday to see how the residents were coping in the aftermath of the town's worst storm in almost 40 years.
Waimate is in a state of shock.
Residents yesterday rose to survey strewn debris and the damage caused by violent winds on Tuesday afternoon and night. Reaching 107kmh, the gales decimated tree plantations, flattened the racecourse public grandstand and left the town without power and fuel.
Locals were out in droves, stepping over the mess and stopping to gawp and gossip. They spoke quietly, still not quite sure if the storm, which wrecked 25-year-old pine plantations, smashed trees, ripped tiles off houses and left 1000 people from Waimate to Twizel without power, had really finished with their town.
Officially, it might have been a work day, but the streets were bustling.
Only one shop was open, and the proprietor, working the till by the light of a lantern, had only intended to open to sell drinks and cigarettes.
Ice cream was off the menu because, of course, it had melted.
Despite no eftpos, and no working ATMs anywhere, the shop was sold out by lunchtime.
And one look at Bob Goodeve's face when he arrived at the Waimate racecourse said it all. The sun was shining, it was warm and the grass at what is regarded as one of the best racetracks in New Zealand gleamed bright. It all made the fate of the 100-year-old public grandstand all the starker.
It lies flattened and in ruins.
Mr Goodeve, chairman of the Waimate racecourse trustees, surveyed the damage and decided it looked ''a bit rough''.
Looking around, he felt ''numb'', remembering all the hard work by volunteers. He did not know how much the grandstand might cost to rebuild, or even if that was possible.
As well, a section of the members' stand was ripped off and the stable block area and stalls damaged.
It is understood the club, first established in 1880, has insurance cover. Residents in the South Canterbury township were all in shock. Although the Waimate District Council was considering contingency plans to deliver food to the elderly, and hundreds of homes are expected to be without power today, at least residents were comforted no-one was hurt.
They seemed, in their laconic way, resilient and philosophical, with Russell Wallace summing up the mood.
''No-one is making a big drama out of it. But it's not a good day to be a tree farmer.''
Retired horse trainer Dick Langford, for his part, remembers the great storm of 1975. That time, the racecourse stand weathered the storm.
