Brutal winds batter region
Rural Waikato fire crews’ busiest day in five years
It was their busiest day in over half a decade, but rural Waikato firefighters had Cyclone Dovi’s devastation under control.
High winds ravaged the region on February 13 as the extropical cyclone toppled trees onto roads, homes and rail tracks and cut power.
The Matamata and Morrinsville volunteer fire brigades were in the thick of it, responding to 23 callouts collectively throughout the day.
‘‘The calls kept coming,’’ Morrinsville’s fire chief Brian Watters, 67, said.
Watters, who has been with the brigade for 50 years, likened it to a similar weather event six years ago.
The first call on Sunday came in at 4am about a large tree blocking Piako Rd, Watters said. It was the biggest job of the day, keeping crews busy for two hours.
‘‘We had a very busy day’’ Watters said.
Sixteen firefighters were on deck in Morrinsville, responding to 11 callouts from 4am to 6pm – typically the station receives fives calls a week.
Watters said volunteers managed to get a few hours break around lunchtime and the locals who provided coffees and pies while out on the job, or pikelets for afternoon tea at the station helped lift spirits.
Fire and Emergency NZ
‘‘By the time you got home and sat down with a coffee, you’d get called out again. It’s been a long time since we got wind like that, man it was scary. ’’ Kevin Curtis Matamata fire chief
attended more than 300 calls nationwide – the majority in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Wellington.
Most related to trees and power lines down.
MetService warned southwest gales could reach up to 120kmh in exposed places, but wind gusts peaked at 137kmh in some places.
In Matamata, 15 firefighters were kept busy in the morning, but by lunchtime many were able to head home.
Fire chief Kevin Curtis said the brigade responded to 12 calls, with the first one in at 7.30am.
‘‘By the time you got home and sat down with a coffee, you’d get called out again,’’ Curtis said.
‘‘It’s been a long time since we got wind like that, man it was scary.
‘‘When the wind picked up, we knew we would get something out of it.’’
Plus, ‘‘the chainsaw got a workout’’.
Matamata-Piako District Council contractors attended 21 callouts from 4am to 3pm on Sunday, while Powerco estimated 1489 Waikato customers were without power and 33,925 across the North Island.