High winds hammering the South Island are making life tricky for motorists, closing two key Canterbury highways today.
A stretch of State Highway 1 between Oamaru and Timaru is closed owing to smoke from a vegetation fire creating poor visibility. A number of buildings are reportedly under threat.
Fire and Emergency shift manager Daryl Nixon said the fire was in the Waimate area and the road was closed between Lower Hook Rd and Kingsbury Rd.
“We’ve got the State Highway closed at this point in time due to smoke over the road,” Nixon said.
Detours are in place.
Waimate Mayor Craig Rowley said he had been notified of a scrub fire on the highway, about 1km north of the turnoff into Waimate.
“Three fire engines went out through town earlier on, but I haven’t heard any more detail other than that at this stage.”
Meanwhile, Waka Kotahi said the winds had brought down power poles and an overhead electricity line south of Twizel on SH8, closing the road between Twizel and Glenbrook.
“Wind gusts of more than 100kmh and dust are affecting driving conditions across much of the region and on inland routes making conditions hazardous,” said John Keenan, Waka Kotahi Maintenance Contract Manager in South Canterbury.
Keenan said the winds had caused several accidents in recent days.
“In South Canterbury, we have had five vehicles towing boats or caravans flip over or be blown off the road in the past four days.
"Two of these crashes caused road closures on SH8, between Omarama and Fairlie and SH80, the road into Aoraki/ Mt Cook on Sunday. It is extremely dangerous for car occupants and nearby road users if this occurs.”
Waka Kotahi is advising people to take extreme care and consider delaying their journey through exposed inland areas today and this week, especially if they are driving high-sided vehicles like campervans, towing a boat or caravan or riding motorbikes.
Motorists should reduce their speed and be prepared to stop in case of wind-blown debris, downed trees or powerlines, Keenan said.
- ODT Online/additional reporting NZ Herald
