Woman dies as ‘freakish’ winds hit
"It was devastating that I wasn’t aware that someone needed help, that we could have called emergency services earlier." Richard Millet
Heavy winds swept through the North Island yesterday, toppling a tree and killing a woman in Waikato — and causing traffic chaos in Auckland as the harbour bridge was partially closed.
And up to 50 homes were damaged after a tornado tore through Horowhenua, with one person injured by glass.
Winds of more than 95km/h forced a full closure of the Auckland Harbour Bridge yesterday morning.
It had partially reopened by 3pm but with lane and speed restrictions, and traffic was snarled-up on the surrounding roads.
Auckland Transport also confirmed buses were not allowed over the Harbour Bridge.
The “freakishly high winds” were also blamed for ripping a healthy oak tree from the ground in Cambridge and crushing an elderly woman, who tragically later died from her injuries.
The woman was initially critically injured after the tree toppled onto a picnic table, where the woman was, in Victoria Square.
Emergency services rushed to the scene shortly after 10am.
Northern Fire and Emergency shift manager Jordan Barnett said a fire appliance and two support vehicles were among the response.
The person was “removed from the tree” about 10.50am.
Police said she later died and witnesses described their horror at the tragedy.
Richard and Trixie Millet had parked their campervan in front of the fallen tree in Cambridge’s Victoria Square, possibly just minutes after it hit the ground.
At the time the pair were unaware a person was stuck underneath.
Two trees had fallen but at that stage no emergency services were at the scene and there was no indication someone needed help.
They walked to a nearby cafe, but when Richard returned to the camper, he knew something was wrong by the presence of emergency
services staff digging with shovels around the base of the fallen tree, presumably to free the woman.
“It was devastating that I wasn’t aware that someone needed help, that we could have called emergency services earlier,” he told the Herald.
Arriving at the scene, the pair, from Rissington, Hawke’s Bay, had been unaware a small tornado had torn through the small town.
Earlier in the day a tornado left up to 50 homes damaged in Horowhenua, including a Strathmore
Ave property where furniture from the lounge was torn out through the conservatory windows.
Other properties had sheds flattened, broken windows and downed fences as well as powerlines.
The council urged people to stay inside and ensure their animals were also inside and safe as severe thunderstorms, localised heavy rain events, hailstones and 120km/h wind gusts were forecast throughout the rest of yesterday.
Nearly 12,000 people in Horowhenua were left without power
following the terrifying storm.
Levin resident John Murphy said he was awoken by a crashing sound “like a plane hitting the house” as the tornado ripped through the town.
Murphy said he was shocked by the strength of the tornado.
“The streetlight which is built up with steel and concrete was swaying in the wind,” he said
Several streets and schools were closed yesterday as Fire and Emergency activated an urban search and rescue team that searched the damaged streets and assessed the
damage alongside the council.
Trees and powerlines had been brought down and residents had already begun the clean-up by the middle of the day.
Horowhenua District Mayor Bernie Wanden advised Levin locals to “hunker down”.
“We’re just in the process of trying to restore power, clean up the debris and get things back to normal as quickly as we can.”
A Civil Defence incident management team was in Levin and urging people to stay home unless travel was critical.