Bad weather hits parts of Manawatū, man claims lighting was the worst he has ever seen

Some people are still without power and councils are preparing for more heavy rain putting stress on the stormwater network as bad weather hits the middle of the North Island.

Heavy rain saw Palmerston North City Council receive 30 phone calls overnight from residents regarding surface flooding.

Council transport and development group manager Hamish Featonby said the city’s network “coped well”, but in light of the likelihood of more bad weather, prevention to keep the network in good shape was needed.

“Today we asked our road maintenance contractor Fulton Hogan to sweep the drains on some streets where they were partially blocked by foliage,” Featonby said.

READ MORE:
* Weather: Property damaged after tree crashes through roof
* Neighbour opposed to asphalt plant frustrated at lack of consultation, fears contamination
* Fulton Hogan secures Palmerston North roading maintenance contract

“We are expecting another potential heavy downpour this afternoon. Rainfall of this intensity can cause surface flooding, especially in low-lying areas such as streams and rivers, and may lead to slips.”

The situation in the wider Manawatū region follows on from severe weather in Auckland – which went into a State of Emergency on Friday.

On Monday, MetService​ issued new heavy rain warnings for the already saturated regions of Northland and Auckland, and warnings are expected next for the Coromandel Peninsula.

Waka Kotahi system manager for Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki, Rob Service said roading contractors will be monitoring the local State Highway network as heavy rainfall is forecast.

“SH43 between Taumarunui and Stratford had to close over the weekend, following a large drop out. That road’s now open and down to one lane, people need to be prepared for delays to travel and the potential for areas to be under temporary speed limits if they get damaged.”

Service said in many places, there may be road workers out with lower speeds or stop and go controls.

“If you’re driving in the forecast heavy rainfall, please drive to the conditions, which means keeping a safe following distance and dropping your speed and watch for flooding and other debris on the road,” he said.

Waka Kotahi has been in communication with Metservice, with more thunderstorms expected this afternoon and evening accompanied by 25 to 40 mm of rain and hail.

Energy provider for Manawatū, Powerco said there are still some properties without power as of 1pm Monday.

“Thirty-four properties in the Bulls area are currently without power, caused by a lightning strike on a transformer. Crews in the area are currently responding to other weather-related outages, so have not yet reconnected those customers,” a Powerco spokesperson said at midday.

“Ideally, they would like to provide accurate restoration times “but during weather events, these can be difficult”.

A Bulls man said the rumble that sounded like a freight train was followed by a flash from the sky, and many residents were left on edge as lightning struck right in front of homes.

Nathan Bevan said he had a strange feeling about Sunday, as it was “hot and humid”, so it was not the most comfortable summer’s day”, but things got worse on Sunday evening.

“Light coloured clouds covered the day sky while big dark grey almost black clouds came in from the West Coast and held in the area. It wasn’t moving then the thunder started to rumble across to the sky like a freight train passing your home.”

“Then the lightning started a site of amazement as we do not normally get huge weather patterns like this and our small community of Bulls and the Rangitiki,” Bevan said.

Bevan said the situation caused his arm hair to raise as he knew from the sight of the big black clouds in the distance something was brewing.

“After the first batch of thunder and lightning, we were greeted by what I called the eye of the storm. The clouds opened up … And then it closed up, and we will meet with the second round which included an extremely heavy rain.

“[It was the] loudest thunder [I have] heard in my 39 years.”

Bevan said he was “extremely fortunate” to capture an image of the lighting.

“We cannot ignore the weather nor can we cannot ignore the environmental factors that humans are contributing too,” he said.