Lightning wreaks havoc on powerlines

Thousands of households in Marlborough were without power after a lightning storm on Friday.

Picton, Havelock and Kaikoura fire brigades were all called out to incidents where lightning had struck power poles, resulting in fire, sparking lines and broken poles.

Hundreds of individual transformers in Marlborough had also blown during the storm, including in the Waihopai Valley after lightning had struck a powerline in Brookby Rd.

Marlborough Lines network engineer Richard Steer said about 2000 customers were affected by a power outage at Waikawa.

Picton Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Wayne Wytenburg said firefighters were called to Boons Valley Rd, in Waikawa, at 7.15pm after a power pole was struck by lightning and the powerlines broke away from the pole. Transmission lines were sparking and smouldering on the ground.

‘‘If we hadn’t had rain we would have definitely been putting out a fire,’’ Mr Wytenburg said.

Firefighters stayed at the scene and kept the area safe until Marlborough Lines arrived.

Mr Steer said the power was turned off by a remote control device while crews travelled from Blenheim to Picton.

About 2000 customers in Waikawa and Port Underwood were without power while technicians worked to fix the problem. He was unsure how long the power was out for or exactly how many households were affected.

Havelock volunteer firefighters were also called out after a power pole caught fire when it was hit by lightning in Long Valley Rd, Okaramio.

Havelock chief fire officer Alan Stanford said the transmission lines did not come down but the cross arm at the top of the pole had burnt off.

Firefighters were called out about 5.45pm and kept the area safe until Marlborough Lines arrived.

Shortly after 7pm on Friday, the Kaikoura Volunteer Fire Brigade was called out to an electricity substation on Ludstone Rd, in Kaikoura, after two wires at the top of a power pole broke when they were hit by lightning.

Kaikoura Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Ian Walker said the wires had not fallen to the ground. Firefighters stayed at the scene until MainPower arrived.

More thunderstorms are forecast in the South Island today, but are not expected to affect Marlborough.

MetService issued the warning yesterday affecting the Canterbury Plains, the Canterbury high country, North Otago, Central Otago, the Southern Lakes, Dunedin, Clutha and Southland.

The storms are expected to move offshore early tonight.