Stitches after man blown over
STRONG winds in Wairarapa injured a man, fanned flames, lifted rooves and toppled trees.
Gusts reached 163kmh at Castlepoint on the Wairarapa coast on Wednesday afternoon, MetService said, and the wind kept firefighters busy around the region.
In Featherston, a man had to be taken to hospital for 13 stitches in his face after being blown over in the street.
He was given first aid by the brigade, which was nearby securing a roof lifted by the wind, Featherston fire chief Colin McKenna said. ‘‘[The roof] was just demolishing itself.’’ Martinborough fire chief Bill Butzbach said the wind fanned a 100-metre-long blaze in a macrocarpa hedge on Wednesday, spreading it to vegetation on two neighbouring properties.
‘‘For this time of year, it burned very fiercely – if we’re getting fires of that intensity now we’ve got to be prepared for a very dry summer.’’
He did not know what caused the blaze but said it could have been a cigarette butt.
‘‘We got it well contained . . . [but] the high winds made it difficult.’’
In Carterton, a four-bay woodshed lost part of its roof, fire chief Wayne Robinson said. Firefighters secured the roof to a tractor. Castlepoint’s campground had a lucky escape when a large macrocarpa was blown over against other trees instead of on to buildings, Castlepoint Station administrator Marie Clement said.
Winds continued buffeting the region yesterday, reaching speeds of 110kmh at the summit of the Rimutaka Ranges in the early morning.
Gusts reaching 100kmh are considered to be galeforce, and warnings are issued for those above 110kmh.
Wairarapa-based MP and NZ First deputy leader Ron Mark was driving home from Wellington at about 4am yesterday and said the wind was ‘‘knocking the truck about’’.
‘‘Thick as pea soup and blowing beggars,’’ he wrote on Facebook.
Featherston resident Karen Sommers said Wednesday’s ‘‘severe’’ winds blew down a fence beside the town’s supermarket and scattered it next to the road.
‘‘I think the term ‘very bloody windy’ would be an understatement for last night, it’s definitely the worst we’ve had in a couple of years,’’ she said yesterday.
A Fire Service spokesman said a powerline was blown down in Featherston yesterday.
like
40