Handful of Banks Peninsula homes still without power after strong winds bring trees down on power lines

Monday, 14 July 2025

Thousands of homes in Banks Peninsula were without power after strong winds toppled trees and damaged power lines. Pictured are trees down in Whites Rd, Little River.

A handful of homes are will remain without power overnight, days after strong winds battered Banks Peninsula, leaving Akaroa all but shut and people having to cook over a fire.

Gales toppled trees and damaged power lines on Friday evening, and while many were reconnected within hours, a handful will have to wait until Tuesday.

Lines company Orion said on Monday evening crews expected 14 households would remain without power overnight. The affected locations are Peraki Bay, Robin Hood Bay, and Te Oka Bay.

The number is 10 less than Monday morning, when 24 households were still waiting for electricity to be restored, more than 60 hours after the power went off..

Power initially went out to nearly 4700 properties, according to the Orion website.

Businesses in the normally bustling tourist town of Akaroa were mainly shut on Saturday.

Another 38 properties lost power Sunday evening in Peraki Bay, Robin Hood Bay, and Te Oka Bay because of storm damage, and were expected to be restored on Monday.

The outage forced the closure of eateries, the petrol station and convenience stores in Akaroa on Saturday, leaving the town at a standstill, despite it being full of tourists and day-trippers taking advantage of the fine weather on the last weekend of the school holidays.

Orion chief governance officer Karen Wiese said “a lot of trees” had fallen across power lines during the severe weather, affecting about 5000 properties across the peninsula, including around both Akaroa and Lyttelton harbours, Little River, Le Bons Bay, Little Akaloa, Birdlings Flat, Teddington and others.

Bully Hayes in Akaroa was among the restaurants and venues forced to close after being left without power from Friday evening.

Staff from the lines company had been “working hard to get everyone restored” over the weekend, Wiese said, and by 7pm on Sunday only remote areas of Banks Peninsula were still waiting for power to be reconnected, and had been contacted by Orion.

Manaia Thomas, who works at Bully Hayes Restaurant and Bar in Akaroa, said they were forced to close for business due to the power being out from Friday 9pm until about 4pm on Saturday.

“There were a lot of people wandering and driving around. I even heard people say, ‘bugger this let’s go home’. Nothing was open.”

Locals say they are used to the power outages and are prepared for events. Pictured is damage in the Onuku area of Banks Peninsula.

Born and raised in Akaroa, Thomas said he was used to the power being out for an hour or two a few times a year but locals were saying it was the longest power outage they had seen in a long time.

One Le Bons Bay resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, was without power at her home for nearly 48 hours, but said she was prepared.

“On Banks Peninsula you are going to live with the weather. It’s a decision you make when you move here.”

She said she had wood, torches and candles, and cooked on the fire.

“You’ve got all your bases covered, you’ve just got no power.”

She said during the snow of 1992 power was out for a week, and two weeks or longer for those living in Hickory Bay.