Overview
- A man died after being struck by a falling branch on Wellington’s Mount Victoria, with gusts near 150 km/h recorded on nearby hill summits.
- More than 10,000 properties in Wairarapa lost power, and lines companies said unsafe winds would leave some customers without electricity overnight.
- Flights were paused in Wellington and disrupted in Christchurch, ferry sailings were curtailed, and slips and flooding closed multiple West Coast highways.
- Schools and homes were evacuated in Kaikōura as wind-driven fires spread, with Fire and Emergency reporting 14 buildings destroyed near the town and State Highway 1 closed.
- MetService expects a second, potentially more intense system on Thursday with forecast gusts up to 150 km/h on the South Island’s east coast and up to 140 km/h around Wellington, along with further heavy rain for saturated catchments.