Power out in parts of Taranaki as heavy seas cause large buoy to break its moorings

A crowd of spectators braved high winds to get a close up look at a 250-tonnes buoy stranded on Ngamotu Beach on Sunday.

The 250-tonne buoy broke its moorings and washed up on the New Plymouth beach sometime during Saturday night. 

Strong winds buffeted the region bringing powerlines down and by Sunday morning more than 1500 homes in Taranaki were without power and at 5pm, about 700 Taranaki homes were still in the dark. 

The orange buoy has been moored off Ngamotu Beach since November. 

New Plymouth Fire Brigade Senior Station Officer Steve Dombroski said two engines from New Plymouth West spent the afternoon pumping water into the buoy to weight it down. 

Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper said the moorings failed in the heavy seas. 

READ MORE:
Live: Storm cuts off thousands
Orange buoy attracted interest as it made its way through the streets
Heavy lift made its way from Waiwhakaiho to Port Taranaki
Buoy destined for Waikato still floating in New Plymouth harbour after five weeks

"It is under control. Our mooring teams and harbour master are on site assisting the owner just to ensure the safety for vessels and the public. 

"There is a high tide tonight. We're looking to see what options there are. It's up to owner of buoy to lead the process. We are assisting where we can."  

Conditions didn't improve during the day, so the buoy would be left where it was overnight and they would look at it on Monday morning, he said.

The structure is understood to be an offshore single buoy mooring device to be used at NZ Steel's Taharoa Mine site, near the Kawhia Harbour, Waikato.

Dombroski said there were few call outs during the storm mostly for roof iron lifting, a few fallen trees and power lines down.

Power was out in parts of Stratford, Midhurst, Okato, Urenui, Kaponga, Tarata, Opunake and Marfell on Sunday morning. ​Powerco field crews worked to restore electricity to customers affected by gale force winds that hit Taranaki overnight.

Powerco Service Delivery Manager Dave Hammond said wind brought down lines throughout Taranaki.

"We have crews in the field and expect to have all supply restored by 6pm. The weather was predicted so field crews were placed on callout standby for rapid response."

"Keep yourself, children, pets or livestock well clear of any downed lines and treat them as live at all times. If you see a downed power line, call emergency services on 111 immediately," Hammond said.

The New Plymouth fire brigade stayed busy clearing fallen trees around the city, senior station manager Jason Crowe said.

But, it began with a rising roof in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"Some people noticed loose flashing on the Southern Cross Hospital," Crowe said.

Firefighters were called out at 2am to resecure the building's flashing, which are thin pieces of watertight material installed to prevent water leakage into a structure.

"Then at 4am, we attended a fallen tree that had taken out some power lines at Cook St," Cook continued.

About the same time, a tree blocked a driveway at a Seaview Rd home.

Later in the day, about 2.30pm, firefighters removed a tree that fell onto a house in Whalers Gate off Kipling Dr.

Then about 15 minutes later, another tree fell and blocked part of the highway at Mangorei Rd.

"The police also responded to that one," Crowe added.

Sunday saw gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour rip through the region along with intense spouts of rain, MetService meteorologist Sarah Sparks said.

Stratford saw about 8.5mm of rainfall throughout the day while New Plymouth had about 10.4mm, Hawera at 9.4mm and Egmont Village an enormous 35mm.

"It's definitely a significant amount of rainfall," Sparks said.

A severe weather warning was issued for the day and would be reevaluated at 9pm, Sparks said.

But summer is still just a tease with northwest gales shifting to strong westerlies and more wet weather to come.

"Showers will be isolated on Monday but won't be as intense. We should see the sun poking out throughout the day," Spark said.

"As the deep low crosses the upper South Island, the winds move clockwise and as it pulls away, the winds shift."

She said weather would ease on Monday evening with scattered showers Tuesday morning clearing for the day.

"But unfortunately the rain will be returning on Wednesday."