Several properties have been damaged with some roofing ripped off after a reported tornado near Whakatāne this afternoon.
Fire and Emergency NZ said it was called to reports of a tornado going through several properties along State Highway 30 in Awakeri at around 2.45pm on Sunday.
“Several properties have been damaged by the tornado. Damage includes some roofs being lifted,” a FENZ spokesperson said.
Four crews from Edgecumbe and Whakatāne were in attendance.
St John said it responded to the incident with an ambulance and a manager but that its crews were not required.
Whakatāne District Council said there were reports of damage to a small number of dwellings and some out buildings.
“Kia haumaru te noho / Stay safe out there.”
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Jamie Hathaway, who lives in the area, told 1News the wind was “pretty intense”.
“We were lucky, some roofing iron came over the top of our house and landed in our paddock.”
Natasja Boon was towing her horse float along State Highway 30 when the tornado came through the area.
“The visibility was pretty bad, at times I couldn’t see more than a metre,” she said.
“I didn’t even notice the wind until a piece of iron flew past my windscreen. All my brain power was needed to concentrate on the white lines and the rest was worrying about 600kg animal in the back.”
Metservice meteorologist Matthew Ford said there was an “isolated thunderstorm” in the Whakatāne area around the time the reports came in.
“It is quite possible that it produced a funnel cloud.”
