First came the bang, then what appeared to be black paper falling down, then the roof.
Normablue Cafe manager Gillian Giles had a lunch service like no other on Thursday as ferocious gusts and waves blasted through the capital, grounding flights, ratcheting windows loose, closing roads, and sending one wave towering 10 metres high through the Wellington harbour heads.
Giles was at the cafe in Waterloo, Lower Hutt about midday when she heard a bang as a powerful gust ripped away half the rubber roofing – then saw what appeared to be black paper fluttering down.
“Then the whole roof came up and over the side of the building,” she said.
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Nobody was injured but a few customers got a scare.
Within not much more than an hour – and despite a still-howling wind – a team from Captain Construction were on site and fixing the roof.
Strong winds blew the roof off the Normablue cafe in Waterloo, Lower Hutt.
“I would be terrified I would be blown off,” Giles said.
The cafe closed after the incident but would be able to open on Friday, she said.
In the Wellington suburb of Rongotai resident Katherine Hoshino’s three children were at home when their neighbour’s roof blew off and smashed through a bedroom window.
“The two boys were not worried but my daughter was a bit scared and called me,” she said.
Hoshino is now at home with her children as the stormy weather continues, but the fire brigade have helped them to board up the smashed window.
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