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One person has serious injuries after truck was tipped on its side by a gust of wind on a Central Hawke’s Bay highway, one of a raft of road incidents that have prompted warnings to delay travel where possible.

Authorities across Tararua and Hawke’s Bay were reporting damage, road closures and power cuts as MetService issued fresh orange strong wind warnings for Hawke’s Bay and the lower North Island.

The warning is in place from 10am to 9pm on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning a cabin was blown onto its side in Dannevirke and roofs and sheds torn to pieces, with iron sheeting being blasted through the streets of Norsewood.

As at noon, 400 homes were without power in Hawke’s Bay: 111 in Central Hawke’s Bay, 293 in Hastings, and seven in Napier.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said gales were wreaking havoc through southern areas of Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday morning.

The Snazzy Nailz nail salon in Dannevirke blown on it's side by the high winds.

A police spokesman said a truck had tipped over on a renowned windy stretch of State Highway 2, near Takapau, in Central Hawke’s Bay.

The police were called to the single-vehicle crash at about 10.10am.

A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said one person was transported to Hawke’s Bay Hospital by ambulance in a serious condition.

One lane was blocked until 11.30am as the clean-up took place, before the road was fully reopened.

A tree was blown on to State Highway 2 north of Dannevirke.

Tararua

Trees and cabins were already being blown over near Dannevirke and there were reports of roofs being ripped off in Norsewood, where one local described the wind as the worst she’d experienced.

Tararua District Council said it was “blowing an absolute gale out there”.

“Our crews are already out dealing with fallen trees and debris across the district, so please take extra care on the roads.

“Visibility and control can change in an instant in wind like this. We’re also receiving reports of roof metal flying around and power lines down.”

Elisabeth Bayliss owns Snazzy Nailz in Dannevirke, which she runs out of a rented cabin.

She was woken up on Tuesday morning by her mother-in-law telling her the cabin had blown over.

“I thought she was kidding and she wasn’t,” Bayliss said.

“Everything’s just blown over.”

Bayliss was waiting for the wind to stop blowing so the owner of the cabin could inspect the damage to the structure but said she had lost a lot of equipment and stock.

Meanwhile, a tree was blown over on State Highway 2 north of Dannevirke, partially blocking a lane.

Damage to a roof of a property on the corner of Eric St and Odin St in Norsewood on Tuesday as winds hit. Photo / Chrissy Crewther

A woman house-sitting in Norsewood said she watched the sheeting of a roof blow off a building, leaving debris on the street and fire crews to tie down what was left of it.

Chrissy Crewther said she looked out the window to see sheeting from an old garage roof on the corner of Eric St and Odin St flying in the air at about 7.45am.

She said she suspected the iron had cut the power line, which was sparking on the road at the time.

“I must have heard something crashing and banging ... I saw the corrugated iron flying around and that was after it came off the roof.”

Crewther said at first she thought it was a tornado and she was unable to leave through the front door to get iron away from her car as the wind was so strong.

“There was no way I could even go out the door, and I thought it was dangerous for me to do that.”

Lower Norsewood resident Liz Jarman, who has lived in the area for seven years, said the wind was “horrific all night”, during which the fence between her property and the New Zealand Natural Clothing Shop had blown down.

“It is the worst I’ve experienced here.”

Central Hawke’s Bay

Five roads were closed in Central Hawke’s Bay as strong winds continued to disrupt the district just before noon.

Pōrangahau Rd was closed at Wanstead, along with Mill Rd in Ashley Clinton, Middleton Rd in Waipukurau, Kasmir Rd in the Ruahine Ranges, and Lake Station Rd near Wanstead.

Pleasant Valley Rd and Tukituki Makaretu Rd in Ashley Clinton, and Pourerere Rd are down to single lanes, while Clinton Makaretu Rd and Pleasant Valley are being assessed by Central Hawke’s Bay Council staff.

In Ashley Clinton in Central Hawke’s Bay, firefighters were battling a fire pit that had reignited in the wind.

The spokesman said two trucks and two tankers were called to the fire near Mill Rd at about 7.39am on Tuesday.

“It’s a big hole with a whole lot of farm stuff in it that is on fire.

“Wind is playing havoc for absolutely everything we are dealing with today.

“It’s coming all the way through Central Hawke’s Bay into the Wairarapa.”

No injuries had been reported and no structures were in danger.

As at 9.30am, 410 homes were without power in the central Hawke’s Bay town of Takapau, lines company Centralines’ website said, with another 60 in rural areas of Central Hawke’s Bay also affected.

By 10.15am, most of the outages had been restored, however other small outages continued to be reported around the region.

Centralines General Manager Isabelle Crawshaw said all of Tuesday morning’s outages were caused by vegetation or trees on the lines rather than wind blowing over power lines.

Crawshaw said sporadic outages were likely to continue throughout the day as the wind continued.

A tree had fallen on to powerlines on Pōrangahau Rd and caused a power outage that Crawshaw said would last for some time, but she said Centralines crews were working hard to fix all unplanned outages on their network.

She encouraged people to report power outages in Central Hawke’s Bay to Centralines’ website.

The Terrace School in Waipukurau had a wattle tree come down in the high winds on Tuesday. Photo / The Terrace School - Waipukurau

The Terrace School in Waipukurau said a wattle tree had fallen at the kura but everyone was safe indoors.

“If you are rural whanau, we understand if you decide to pick up your tamariki early.”

The school also cancelled mainstream class visits to Rākautātahi Marae due to the weather forecast earlier in the morning.