Dash for life as tornado strikes

By JO-MARIE BROWN

Brent Willetts saw the roof of his neighbour's house twisting through the air towards him as he fled his backyard workshop.

The Whakatane funeral director escaped just seconds before his 10m-long shed was consumed by a tornado that ripped across several rural properties just before midday on Saturday.

"There was a tremendous noise, like a hundred lions roaring.

"I just held onto my wife and when I turned around everything was gone," Mr Willetts said.

Residents of Te Rahu Rd, about 6km southwest of Whakatane, watched nervously as a second twister threatened to hit yesterday.

Mr Willetts said a "big tongue" appeared out of the clouds at lunchtime and swirled above Awakeri - 2km south of his home - for 15 minutes before disappearing.

"I don't know what I've done to deserve this," he said.

Police said several tornadoes had been seen forming in the sky yesterday between Whakatane and Matata but no further damage had been reported.

Mr Willetts said he was still reeling from the devastation Saturday's tornado had caused.

His 12m Macrocarpa tree was snapped in half and sheets of corrugated iron were left dangling from overhead power lines.

The fridge from the next-door neighbour's garage was lying in Mr Willetts' backyard, and all that remained of the garage itself was its concrete foundations.

Mr Willetts' house was relatively unscathed but neighbour Stu Goodhew lost his roof and most of his glass windows.

"My wife heard a noise and looked out the kitchen window to see the roof fly past along with the garage," he said.

He and his family spent Saturday afternoon plucking shards of glass from walls and salvaging what they could.

"I'm very lucky my wife and children were in the kitchen at the time. If they had been in one of the front rooms it could have been a different story with all that glass flying around."

Power was cut to thousands of Whakatane homes for several hours afterwards, as linemen peeled debris from power poles.

The tornado, which disappeared after 15 minutes, carved a clear path through the countryside, punching holes through shelter belts and flinging property into nearby paddocks.

"I was just flabbergasted," Mr Goodhew said. "The brown iron from the hay barn up the road is in my backyard, while my garage is next door."

MetService lead forecaster Ross Marsden said it was not unusual for wind speeds to reach 200 km/h in such tornadoes.

"It must have been tremendous to do that sort of damage."

An active cold front - typical for this time of year - had spawned the tornado, similar to the ones that damaged Auckland homes last Wednesday night.

Stormy conditions, forecast for Auckland and Northland today, could create more twisters.

"We're forecasting thunderstorms and thunderstorms are known to produce tornadoes, given favourable conditions."

In the South Island the Southern Lakes region was reminded that winter could arrive at any moment when it dropped 30cm to 50cm of snow in the area's mountains on Friday and Saturday night.

Yesterday morning saw a thicker coating of snow, particularly on the mountains along the western shore of Lake Wanaka.

nzherald.co.nz/weather

Current Special Weather Bulletin