Storm cuts Coast phone links

Press, 21 May 1982, Page 3

Storm cuts Coast phone links

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An electrical storm cut toll lines south of Whataroa to Fox, Franz Josef, and Haast at 1.40 a.m. yesterday, but the links were restored by 10.45 a.m. Lightning caused damage to telephones at Kowhitirangi. south of Hokitika, and power cuts in parts of the Grey Valley and Runanga. The rain was not heavy enough to cause problems with roads or rivers on the West Coast yesterday, although the Grey River was running high. It was still raining steadily in Greymouth last evening. The heaviest rainfall recorded was at The Hermitage, Mount Cook, where 264 mm (10.4 in fell in the 24 hours to 9 a.m. yesterday. The heavy fall caused surface flooding that closed the Ball Hutt Road from The Hermitage to the former ski lodge and the Foliage Hill Road into the Hooker Valley. A slip on State highway 73 east of Arthur’s Pass reduced traffic to a single lane during the morning, but the road was cleared by 3 p.m. The Mount Somers station fire was the worst result of the gales which swept MidCanterbury, but other fires stretched fire-fighting resources for several hours..

The wind gusted to 60 knots at the Winchmore Research Station north of Ashburton about 5 a.m. Firemen were called from their beds about 3 a.m., and some were still walking about in the Ashburton Fire Station in their pyjamas at 11 a.m. Apart from the Mount Somers blaze, county, town, and rural brigades had to deal with a scrub fire at the Ashburton Forks, a stubble fire near Staveley, and a burning belt of trees on the Westerfield-Lismore Road. A house at Methven was threatened when trees at a nearby nursery caught fire. At Tinwald a garage was blown off its foundations and on to a neighbouring property. Power was cut to the

western side of Ashburton when a bicyle shed behind the Catholic Church, in Sealy Street, was lifted into power lines by a particularly violent wind gust. Some power lines in inland Mid-Canterbury were brought down by falling trees. An estimated’ 5000 subscribers through the Ashburton county and borough were without power at some stage during the morning, but the supply to most had been restored by midday. Telephone exchanges at Mount Somers. Mayfield, and Springburn were also put out of action by the wind. Forests in Ashburton were unscathed.

A. wind gust of 52 knots was recorded in Rangiora at 11 a.m. yesterday. The strongest gust recorded by the weather office at Christchurch Airport was 40 knots, at 7 a.m. There were no reports of damage in the city.