High winds send blowing sand 200 meters inland turning New Zealand streets into beaches

December 13, 2011 – NEW ZEALAND – The Hibiscus Coast Highway has looked like a beach track in parts of Orewa as high winds blasted sand dunes, sending clouds of grit to cover homes and gardens up to 200m inland. Yesterday, along the 3km Orewa Beach, picnic parties huddled behind vehicles to shelter from the sand storm while on the beach, pilots of sand yachts were thrilled at being able to reach speeds of 60 km/h. The lawn at the beach’s playground was also clogged with the sand, which had built up to knee-height on the pathways above the beach. At the town’s BP service station on Sunday, motorists were pelted with grit whipped up from drifts spread over the highway. “It is unbelievable,” said beachfront resident Brett Proctor. “I’ve seen high winds in my five years here, but nothing as … continuous as this.” His garden, six steps up from the beach, had been buried in sand and he was constantly washing a golden crust off his cars. Mr Proctor said the wind-blown sand came from heaps recently dumped at the foot of the esplanade by Auckland Council to replace a wave barrier of boulders. “It seems that sand was put there too early in the summer because the north-easterly winds have not finished yet.” Leanne Smith, of Destination Orewa Beach, said council works crews cleared away deep drifts of sand from clogged drains and covering bollards at the beach reserve and traffic islands. –NZ Herald