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Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
Lynn and Jo Reid woke up when strong winds smashed the windows of Frankton’s home in Queenstown.
Jo and Lynn Reid were sleeping at their home in Queenstown when a noise “like a train approaching” woke them up.
A massive gust of wind blew debris into their home, smashing windows and ripping the siding from the walls around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
“It was an awful noise,” Jo Reid said. Her Frankton home was one of two that lost part of the roof, had broken windows and furniture thrown across the backyard.
High winds uprooted trees and smashed motorhomes and windows of buildings at the nearby Maui Britz base.
Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
Windows were smashed and the siding of this Frankton garage blew out when strong gusts of wind hit Queenstown in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
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Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
John Hamilton lost the roof of his Frankton garage, equipment was thrown across his backyard, and his home was badly damaged by high winds overnight.
Next to Reid’s house, John Hamilton also woke up to a “roar”, immediately followed by a bang as a bedroom window shattered.
Windows in two bedrooms were broken, an internal fireplace had collapsed, a garage roof was missing, a catamaran in the backyard overturned, and cars inside the garage had broken windows.
“We think something has hit the windows,” he said.
There had been strong winds in the neighborhood before, but this was much more dramatic, he said.
MetService
Strong northwesterly winds are forecast to affect much of the South Island this weekend with Warnings and Watches already in place.
“I’m still a little shocked.”
Jo Reid said she had vacuumed and swept the kitchen and living room floor three times to try to remove all the glass shards, but she was still finding them.
When inspecting the exterior damage, Lynn Reid said the garage door had been blown off and the side panels were missing.
“The shed is screwed up,” he said.
Fenz spokesman Brent Dunn said fire crews attended three jobs in the southern city overnight.
A tree fell on a car on Riverside Rd, two roofs came loose on Robertson St, a roll-up door was damaged and the windows of a motorhome were smashed at the Maui Campervan Queenstown branch, Dunn said.
Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
A tree uprooted when gusts of wind hit Frankton in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Frankton Fire Station Senior Officer Mike Ide said debris was strewn across the neighborhood.
“A member of the public called out to him when he discovered that the iron roof and structure were collapsing.
“After doing some research, we found the houses that had partial roofs removed and the roof of the garage completely disappeared.”
Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
A damaged commercial rubbish bin and bricked up windows and roof from high winds in Frankton, Queenstown.
MetService meteorologist Andy Best said northwest winds blew up to 83km / h overnight in Queenstown.
Best described the conditions as “quite windy” and said much of the wind was “very uncharacteristic” for the city.
There was a severe wind warning for all of Otago as early as 8 p.m., Best said.
