A substantial storm hit Wellington late yesterday and at one stage almost every NZFS Appliance from Upper Hutt South, was on the road, responding to calls of lines and trees down, roofs lifting and awnings flying. The Hutt Valley was of course not excepted, and before long a request for support from the Hutt Valley Fire Police was received from the crew of Avalon 414, attending a collapsed power pole.

It's not easy to tell from this angle, but the power lines attached to this pole are actually leaning on the house, and in fact providing support for the pole which has clean-broken near its base.

Rimutaka 4926 and 4928 responded, along with members from the duty crew, allowing Avalon's truck to respond to other callouts in the valley. (Indeed, AVAL414 responded 7 times in just over 2 and a half hours.)

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RIMU4928 with both roadblock and footpath-block in place.

Members of HVFP attended for nearly 3 hours, providing road closures and scene security, liasing with local residents and assisting the Power Company and Tree Contractor while a new pole was placed next to the old one and power was restored to local houses affected. (The temporary repair involves attaching the old pole (with lines connected) next to a new one for support, until a permanent repair can be affected (relocating the lines from one pole to the other).

Members travelling to and from this call couldn't help but notice the weather-related destruction around the Valley, with many trees having lost limbs that were to be found littered across footpaths and roads. The 'Southerly Buster' petered out by mid/late evening (as it made its way north.)