Cyclone lashes Auckland

Press, 17 March 1980, Page 6

Cyclone lashes Auckland

| pA - J Auckland Hundreds of air passengers were left stranded, the radar mast of a container ship was broken, and a yacht was “smashed to smithereens” at Auckland during the week-end fury of Cyclone Sira.

Emergency services were struggling for most of Sat* urday to Keep pace with calls from victims of the cyclone in spite of the fact that the storm had come and gone two hours before it had been predicted. While the Weather Office had expected Cyclone Sina to be sweeping Auckland City with 55-knot winds about 6 p.m., it had passed over by about 4 p.m., heading south towards the Bay of Plenty. Auckland Airport was closed for three hours on Saturday afternoon after crosswinds and surface flooding prevented aircraft from departing. One Qantas and two Air New Zealand flights that were to - land in Auckland from Sydney had to be .diverted to either Wellington or Christchurch. Passengers were later flown to Auckland when the' storm had blown over and the airport reopened. Aircraft '-and passengers scheduled to depart from Auckland .were delayed for some hours, as the back-log of incoming flights. . was cleared. ' At Fergusson wharf, the 24-212-tonne .container . ship ACT 5 suffered a broken radar mast after cranes unloading cargo were knocked against it<in the high winds.

two attempts to respond to the Mayday call from a 6m craft swamped off Rakino Island with engine failure. After battling rough seas, the vessel was towed to safety to Motutapu Island. While efforts were made to prevent people from getting into difficulty in the sea, emergency services throughout the city were working frantically to solve problems in the city. The Auckland Fire Service handled more than 160 calls to deal with flooded basements, damaged roofs, and power lines that had fallen. Residents in the Te AtatuGlendene area were without water for most of Saturday after a. pipeline was damaged by the storm. The Automobile Association .was forced to double its week-end staff by calling on those who were off-duty to cope with calls from stranded drivers.

Those attending a family reunion at Kaukapakapa were, swilled out of the local hall after flood /waters surged through the doors. , Cubs at a camp at the old Makarau School were cooped up inside, unable to move until floodwaters had subsided. Helensville residents went without power for about five hours after a fault developed m the supply. , ‘ ~ . Last evening, the Weather pffice predicted winds of 45 knots to continue until midnight, gradually decreasing today. ■ . , The lower half, of the North Island escaped: the effects of Cyclone Sina, as it moved faster than expected. The Meteorological Service ■ said the cyclone hit the 1 Auckland area about 3 p.m. on Saturday and East Cape ,at 9 p.m. “ . « At 6 a.m. yesterday it was ; 200 km north of the Chatham Islands and well east of the •group by nightfall. • ' A spokesman for the service said that it was lucky [ the cyclone had moved faster than expected because it > deepened as .it moved off > New Zealand. ’ ,

• The extent of the damage to the mast was not known yesterday, but it is believed to be serious enough to delay the departure of the ship to Norfolk Island.

While many. boat - owners took heed of cyclone warnings and checked their moorings, the Auckland Coast Guard was kept busy intercepting drifting yachts unable to remain anchored in the heavy winds. A Devonpdrt boat Owner, Mr C. A. Dickie, saw the yacht he; spent four years building sink. The 24ft vessel sank near Iris Wharf, Devonport, after it was holed, by a drifting ferro-cement boat and washed up against the rocks. During the worst of the storm, the Coast Guard made