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Source: ONE News -
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North Island campers are being urged to batten down the hatches.
MetService has issued a severe weather warning for high winds from Havelock North to Eketehuna.
Gale winds up to 120 kilometres an hour are expected on Wednesday.
The winds are likely to be strong enough to damage trees and power lines and make driving conditions difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.
Forecaster Oliver Druce says gusts could be even stronger in some areas, with a 150km gale recorded on Wednesday morning at Cape Turnagain on the eastern Hawke's Bay coast.
"It has been very windy, but I haven't had any reports of damage at this stage," he says.
"About the middle to late afternoon it should die away, but it's going to keep going for another six to nine hours."
The winds are expected to ease late afternoon as a showery southwest change moves north.
One campsite owner says modern tents are made to withstand galeforce winds, like the ones forecast to hit Hawke's Bay.
Clifton Motor Camp in Hawke's Bay has around 350 people staying at the moment, in tents, caravans and motorhomes.
Camp manager Mel Gudgeon is sure his campers have pretty sophisticated gear these days, with tents far sturdier than they used to be.
Meanwhile, a bridge near Levin remains closed after rising waters damaged a support column.
About 15 homes in Manakau, about halfway between Otaki and Levin, were affected by the bridge closure.
Access for 4WD vehicles has been negotiated through local farmland, police said.
Fire warnings
Hastings District Council's deputy principal rural fire officer, Paul Hawke, says any controlled burnoffs need to be monitored very carefully due to the high winds.
Hawke says at the moment, the open fire season means people can light fires outside.
But he's urging people to make sure any fires are well and truly
out before the winds rip through on Wednesday.
Hawke says restrictions are a possibility before the summer is
out.
