By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Schools were closed and flights cancelled as New Zealand’s capital Wellington was hit by its strongest winds in over a decade on Thursday while a state of emergency was declared in parts of the South Island after 24 hours of heavy rain.
Average wind speeds reached up to 87 kilometres an hour (54mph) in Wellington, the strongest since 2013, while gusts south of the capital in coastal Baring Head touched 160 kilometres an hour, the government forecaster said.
The highest possible red wind warning has been put in place for Wellington while a state of emergency was called in parts of the South Island, including New Zealand’s second-largest city, Christchurch.
“This is certainly bigger than your average bad Wellington day,” said Dan Neely, a spokesperson for the Wellington region’s emergency management department.
“Few roads are closed in different parts of the region. We’ve got some waves overtopping coastal roads and dumping some debris.”
The department asked people to stay indoors where possible and to secure outdoor furniture and trampolines. Residents in one coastal suburb have been asked to find alternative accommodation overnight due to fears of flooding.
Flights at Wellington International Airport had been cancelled by the afternoon and ferry service between the North and South Islands was suspended.
A number of local schools and the Victoria University of Wellington said they had shut for the day.
Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island, declared a state of emergency as floods, landslides and falling trees impacted the city.
“We expected the weather would ease, which hasn’t happened so declaring will mean we are prepared for anything that may happen overnight,” Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said in a statement.
The island’s central Selwyn District had issued an emergency warning earlier on Thursday over flooding and rising river levels.
District Mayor Sam Broughton said in a Facebook post that significant flooding risks had developed across Selwyn, particularly in low-lying areas and people in most at-risk areas were being asked to evacuate.
MetService, a second government forecaster, said the high winds in Wellington are set to last until the early hours of Friday while the South Island was being hit by heavy rain.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
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