Rotorua weather chaos (update +video, poll) | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Rotorua was hit by a thunder, lightning and hail storm that flooded houses and cut power.

The storm hit just before 4.30pm yesterday and cut power to some areas of the district.

MetService forecasters said the worst of the storm was over by about 6pm.

Hail was reported in McDowell St in the Springfield suburb of Rotorua to "look just like snow".

One resident said it was so bad, it blocked his garage door and he was unable to get in.

"I have got sails outside and they are filled up with hail and have just collapsed."

He said the rain was coming inside his house and making a "hell of a mess" and that the hail stones were as big as golf balls.

The hail blanketed the roads causing difficulty for motorists who were slipping across the road.

"There are cars slipping around all over the place. There's bound to be a crash," one woman said.

Readers in Rotorua's western suburbs this morning reported the hail still hadn't melted, despite beautiful sunny weather.

Yesterday's sudden heavy rain and hail also brought slips in the Rotoma area and cut power to several suburbs.

There were also reports the strong wind had taken off the roof of a Giltrap St building.

There were several lightning strikes per minute.

Other areas of the city were also described as looking like it was covered in snow, including Western Heights, Tihiotonga and Paradise Valley. Another resident said Malfroy Rd, Petrie St and Amun Pl were covered in hail. United Networks spokesman Danny Gough said their staff were flat out dealing with lightning strikes, downed trees and a truck hitting a transformer box on Fairy Springs Rd.

Power was cut to homes in Springfield Rd and other isolated parts of Rotorua as well as Rotoma, Rotoiti and Rotoehu. There were also power cuts at some shops in the central city.

 

Mr Gough said numbers on how many were affected by the power cuts were not available but said the majority of people had their power back on by 6pm. He said there were some isolated pockets where there was no power, including Rotoma, but he expected power to be back on there last night.

Motorists said emergency service vehicles were seen all across town.

"It didn't matter which direction you looked, there was a fire truck or police car or ambulance."

At Waiariki Institute of Technology, a sun sail had collapsed under the weight of hail.

Vaughan Rd residents said there were clumps of hail on their parked cars.

Springfield Superette owner Raj Patel said several motorists had stopped outside his store while hail and rain pounded their cars.

"A few women came in to use the phone to get their husbands to pick them up because they didn't feel safe driving."

Mr Patel said the hail stones were about the size of ice cubes.

"They were huge and it was so sudden," he said.

"The power went out and the temperature just dropped."

Acting Senior Sergeant John Cassidy of the Rotorua police said officers had been kept busy with incidents caused by the wild weather. He said police were called to a number of minor crashes and incidents of flooding.

"There has been quite a bit of surface flooding especially around Devon St and Fairy Springs Rd areas," he said.

"Motorists need to make sure they drive to the conditions."

A station officer at Rotorua Fire Service said firefighters had received 12 calls in the space of two hours which were predominantly flood related.

Kayaker Andy Fuller posted this comment on The Daily Post website.

"Three of us were training slalom kayaking on the Kaituna River when the storm rolled through. We sheltered under the main highway bridge when the hail reached its peak. Suddenly a lightning strike hit Okere Falls and NZ team slalom paddler Aaron Osborne got a shock through him as he was touching the river bank. We very quickly left and raced back to better shelter!! Aaron stopped off on his way home and bought a Lotto ticket :-)"

MetService forecaster Chris Noble said the worst of Rotorua's bad weather would be over by this morning. He said the thunderstorms stretched from Taupo to the Eastern Bay of Plenty and passed over Rotorua on their way to Tauranga. Mr Noble said Rotorua received 43mm of rain from 4.30pm to 5.30pm, which is an amount associated with torrential rain.

He said the Rotorua region also experienced more than 1400 lightning strikes during the storm.

According to the MetService fine weather is expected back in the city today.