Sudden hailstorm batters Kaikoura

Hail lashed Kaikoura, ruining fragile crops and frightening tourists and locals on Friday afternoon.

Rosemary Goodman, who grows lettuces and herbs commercially, said she had lost 80,000 lettuces, which equated to all of her current stock.

Some would come back, Mrs Goodman said, but she estimated the storm was likely to have stopped the business producing salad for three to four weeks.

"Unfortunately it's just one of those things," she said. "When you work with the land you have to breed resilience."

Mrs Goodman said born and bred locals had told her it was the worst storm they had ever seen in the area.

Dutch tourist Martin Ooink, who had been visiting friends in Kaikoura, said he was unaware of the sudden changes in New Zealand weather when he went out for a walk on Friday.

He set off to walk around the peninsula with just his summer clothes on but stormy conditions set in, with hailstones as big as marbles when he was half way round the track. He persevered until he reached South Bay, from where a Kaikoura resident gave him a ride back to his friend's house at the base of Mt Fyffe.

A group of American tourists were also walking the peninsula and they became scared when caught out in the hailstorm.

The group, aged in their 60s and 70s, were rescued by a police officer who walked them out to safety.

Elsewhere in Kaikoura, Inland Rd residents reported hailstones as big as golf balls in some places, and hail covered the streets in the town. Flash flooding in Churchill St and Bayview St saw icy drifts and extensive flooding in places.

In Marlborough, grapegrowers were thanking their lucky stars this morning after escaping much of the storm's wrath.

Awatere grower Peter Yealands said apart from a couple of blown over vines he had suffered no damage.

"The rain was close to hail, but didn't come to it. We were very fortunate."

New Zealand Winegrowers chairman Stuart Smith said he had not heard any reports of damage from grapegrowers.

- The Marlborough Express

Newest First

Oldest First