Wellington mops up after storm

DAVE LINTOTT/Supplied

CALM AFTER THE STORM: A rainbow pierces the sky over Wellington after the worst of the storm had passed. The Insurance Council says it is too early to count the cost of the ferocious weather on Friday.

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As the sun sun returned to Wellington for much of the weekend, many were left counting the cost of Friday's ferocious weather.

The southerly storm that ravaged the city on Friday evening caused major damage to property, and emergency services say it is lucky more people weren't injured.

A 63-year-old taxi driver, who was helping police by directing traffic around power lines that had fallen on the road in Paraparaumu, collapsed from a medical condition.

He was found unconscious by his car about 9pm. Wellington Free Ambulance gave him first aid and he was flown by Westpac rescue helicopter to Wellington Hospital. He was in a critical condition last night.

Wind gusts of 130kmh, 25 millimetres of rain that fell in a few hours and 4300 lightning strikes took the tip of the South Island and lower North Island by surprise.

Police said they had 140 calls in the 90 minutes after the storm hit about 4.30pm.

The fire service said crews scrambled to deal with roofs flying off, smashed windows, fallen power lines and felled trees trapping people in cars.

Chris Ryan, from the Insurance Council, said it was too early to put a price tag on the damage.

John Bell, who lost part of the roof of his Time Cinema in Lyall Bay, was kept busy at the weekend drying out the sodden cinema.

Two schools, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington and Lower Hutt's St Bernard's College, had roofs damaged in the storm.

Samuel Marsden principal Jenny Williams said five classrooms would be out of action this week because of storm damage.

- © Fairfax NZ News