Christchurch houses evacuated

Residents have been evacuated from two Sumner, Christchurch, homes after a slip in the area this morning.

The 100cu m slip was part of a raft of weather-related damage nationwide, which included boats breaking from their moorings in Wellington, a Christchurch hotel losing its roof and power poles blocking a road near Upper Hutt.

Christchurch City Council transport and greenspace manager Alan Beuzenberg said the slip was on council reserve land on The Spur and had reduced Main Road below to a single lane.

"Engineers have assessed the damage and as a precautionary measure have evacuated two properties because of concerns with the on-going stability of the cliff face," Mr Beuzenberg said.

"The homes which have been evacuated are directly behind the area of hillside which subsidised. These homes are some metres from the slip.

"The evacuations are precautionary and residents will be able to return home as soon as our engineers consider it is safe."

The cliff face was unstable, and contractors were unable to move equipment on to the site to begin clearing the road. That would happen as soon as it was safe to do so.

Engineers would be on site again tomorrow morning to further assess the situation.

Northern, Central and Southern fire communications spokesmen told NZPA there were no incidents of any note happening in their areas and no storm-related incidents to report.

However, the continuing bad weather in the Wellington region kept all Cook Strait ferries from sailing today.

Bluebridge and Interislander ferry sailings were cancelled as high winds and huge swells affected the Cook Strait.

About 700 people were stranded on either side of the strait.

It was hoped crossings would begin again tomorrow, when conditions were expected to ease, spokesmen from both companies said.

Some flights into the capital were redirected to Palmerston North, and some outgoing flights were cancelled.

Wind gusts of up to 140kmh hit the Wellington region, forcing the closure of Blue Mountains Road near Upper Hutt after several power poles were damaged and blocked the road, police said.

Emergency services and council workers were working to clear the area.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard Maclean told NZPA that aside from tree branches falling on to roads because of the "foul" weather, there were no serious incidents that called for council emergency services.

Mr Maclean said winds were gale force but they had not caused any real trouble.

"City council staff were involved in picking up branches and that's about it."

Power was briefly cut to about 1200 homes in the greater Wellington region after tree branches and debris across power lines knocked out electricity to homes in Ngauranga, Johnsonville and Plimmerton.

Wellington police also advised motorists to avoid the south coast of Wellington.

"Huge waves have been going over the road and leaving debris and stuff. No specific area but the stretch of road around Owhiro Bay and around the airport should be avoided," acting shift commander Stephen Ross told NZPA.

Meanwhile, the MetService has issued a severe weather warning for southerly gales, heavy snow and heavy rain nationwide.

A strong cold southerly airstream was expected to bring snow to the central North Island, with heavy falls of 15-25cm predicted to fall this afternoon and evening.

The Desert Road, State Highway 49 through Ohakune and SH4 through Tongariro National Park were likely to be affected.

Heavy rain was expected this evening for Canterbury to the Kaikoura Coast, southeast of Blenheim, the MetService said.

Severe southerly gales were expected for Banks Peninsula, east of Christchurch, to the Wairarapa, with gusts reaching up to 120kmh at times.

A severe weather watch for heavy rain in Wellington and the Wairarapa all weekend was also issued, with a low expected to bring heavy rain in the coastal hills of the Wairarapa, southern and eastern slopes of the Tararua Ranges, and Wellington.

-NZPA