As spring asserts itself with unusual ferocity across New Zealand's south and east, a powerful weather system has reminded the country that the natural world operates on its own timetable, indifferent to human infrastructure and convenience. Wind gusts exceeding 211km/h tore through Canterbury's high country overnight, while more than 3,000 lightning strikes illuminated the scale of the atmospheric upheaval in just twelve hours. Roads have closed, trees have fallen, and forecasters warn that a second low-pressure system forming over the Tasman Sea means the reckoning is not yet finished — only