��һ�ǿ�����

Hawke’s Bay isn’t yet out of the firing line of wild spring winds that caused damage across the region on Tuesday.

State Highway 50 between Ongaonga and Maraekakaho closed at 3pm on Tuesday and remained closed on Wednesday morning as workers removed debris.

Workers were also near Takapau removing a truck that rolled on State Highway 2 on Tuesday.

Stop/go traffic management is in place for the area while the vehicle is removed.

Amid orange strong wind warnings for Hawke’s Bay, winds smashed the lower North Island on Tuesday.

MetService recorded wind gusts of 72km/h at Napier Airport at 3pm, while gusts of 130km/h were recorded on the Takapau Plains around 4pm, and gusts of 126km/h were recorded at Cape Kidnappers.

Strong winds made approaches difficult at Hawke’s Bay Airport.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said about seven flights in and out of Napier were cancelled on Tuesday because of the weather, but flights were arriving and departing as normal on Wednesday morning.

“Our team is continuing to monitor conditions to ensure it’s safe to continue operation,” the spokeswoman said.

MetService meteorologist Michael Pawley said some of Hawke’s Bay would see some respite from the wind on Wednesday, but there was still a bit of wind around Central Hawke’s Bay and Dannevirke feeding fires in Pōrangahau.

Residents of five homes self-evacuated in Pōrangahau overnight as four vegetation fires continued to burn in the area.

Several vegetation fires were reported across Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday, caused by strong winds and high temperatures.

“We are seeing some elevated winds today, which is not great news for controlling that fire, and certainly they will be picking up again tomorrow,” Pawley said.

“We are seeing larger pressure gradients across the country. So there is a chance that some areas could see more impacts than on Tuesday, and Tuesday was a big day.”