As Dunedin continues to clean up and repair extensive damage from the worst storm in recent history, a few residents are still without power, and everyone is being urged to prepare for “unseasonably low and widespread snow” on Monday.
Aurora Energy future network and operations general manager Matt Settle said Thursday’s severe gales had a “significant impact” on its electricity network across Central Otago, Wānaka, Queenstown Lakes and Dunedin.
At the peak of the event, more than 16,000 customers were without power, but the goal was to complete repairs to the high-voltage network by the end of yesterday so power could be restored to the majority of customers by last night.
As at 7.30am today, the number of impacted customers had been reduced to about 32, all in or near Dunedin.
He said fault crews would continue to work into the long weekend to ensure remaining outages were resolved today.
“The extent of damage to our network from yesterday’s storm far exceeds any other event over recent years.
“At this stage, we have not calculated the cost of the repairs, as our focus is on getting power restored.”
He said power was restored to Central Otago, Wānaka and Queenstown Lakes before nightfall on Thursday, and only minor repairs remained in those areas.
“However, the scale of damage to the Dunedin network was more extensive.”
To support restoration efforts, he said Aurora brought in additional crews from other Aurora Energy contractors to assist with fault repairs and vegetation clearance.
He described the working conditions as “challenging and hazardous”, and praised staff for restoring power as quickly and safely as possible.
Meanwhile, Hocken Library staff yesterday described the surreal and terrifying moment a pair of massive trees came down and crashed into the side of the building.
Sarah Hibbs and Ceri Austin-Hart said they were inside and had just said how the forecast for severe gales had not come to much when the wind arrived.
“Talk about commentator’s curse,” Mrs Hibbs said.
“And then out of the corner of my eye, I realised that the tree was falling down right beside the window where Ceri sits.
“It felt like it was happening in slow motion.
“It didn’t make a huge noise like you would expect. It came down slowly and gently. It was surreal,” Mrs Hibbs said.
It did not break through any glass or wall, though people moved back as a precaution.
“So there was a lot of luck that came into play in how it fell, for sure,” Mrs Hibbs said.
Dunedin City Council Three Waters, property and urban development general manager David Ward said the “wild wind storm” created considerable damage across the city and some repairs could take weeks.
“Our staff and contractors have been going the extra mile since the storm struck, working to clear trees and other debris, and reopen roads as soon as it is safe to do so.”
He expected some of the cleanups to be completed by early next week, but some sites presented greater challenges and would take longer.
Damage to several DCC properties — including Forsyth Barr Stadium, the Dunedin Railway Station, and Forbury Park — was still being assessed.
The Dunedin Ice Hockey stadium and Badminton Centre in Victoria Rd are both closed after a chunk of the ice stadium’s roof severely damaged the neighbouring Badminton Centre’s roof.
Otago Badminton Association chairman Dr John Schollum said it was likely it would be closed for “the foreseeable future”.
One residential property had been issued with a Dangerous Building Notice, and a neighbouring property has also been issued with an Affected Building Notice.
Power outages were continuing to affect the water treatment plant in West Taieri, so residents were urged to minimise water consumption.
Mr Ward said it was too soon to say what the cost of the event would be.
Dunedin Wildlife Hospital general manager Suzanne Stephenson called for the public to be on the lookout for any injured wildlife in the area and contact the Department of Conservation if they saw anything that looked like it was injured. She said the rough seas created by the severe gales may have injured birds and penguins in particular.
Labour Day Weekend
☀️ 🌧️Saturday and Sunday: Lots of sunny spells for the North Island with a few showers along the western coast and central areas. On the South Island, largely fine in the northeast and showery with periods of rain in the south and west. Westerly winds… pic.twitter.com/kSPqvGLzf6
— MetService (@MetService) October 24, 2025
MetService is forecasting another bout of widespread severe weather on Monday, which could bring snow to “unseasonably low levels” in parts of Otago and Canterbury.
MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino said much of the country could see localised heavy rain, and snow on Monday night may have impacts on travel and put further stress on the electricity grid which is still playing catch-up after this week’s severe weather.
She suggested holidaymakers planning to travel home on Monday should keep a close eye on MetService’s severe weather outlook before setting off, and be prepared to adjust plans.