Nick Beerthound, an unsettled resident and worried neighbour, tells the Herald about his experience through the 'tornado'-like winds in Mangawhai overnight.
Video / NZ Herald
Nine houses and buildings have been yellow-stickered and 26 white-stickered since a tornado ripped through Mangawhai in the early hours of Sunday.
About 200 homes are still without power, including 65 in Moir Pt and 81 in the Old Waipu Rd area, where more than 20 power poles came down.
Cordons in Moir St – Mangawhai’s main drag – and Old Waipu Rd have been lifted as of noon today, but people are warned to still avoid the latter as work to restore power continues.
Kaipara District Council has finished its assessment, but residents can also seek help from council’s Mangawhai office at The Hub or by calling 0800 727 059 or 09 439 7059.
Thirty-five homes have been damaged and more than 100 remain without power after a tornado seriously injured two people in the popular beach settlement of Mangawhai early yesterday morning.
Police cordons were lifted on the settlement’s main street, Moir St, and from Old Waipu Rd at midday, but power restoration is still underway at the latter, said Kaipara civil defence emergency management local controller John Burt.
“Northpower have advised that the cordon at Old Waipu Rd lifted at 12pm to enable access for services needed to help with restoration.
“Crews are still working to complete repairs and ask that you stay away from the area unless you are directly involved in restoration efforts.”
The road is one lane with stop/go traffic management in place, he said.
“Please be patient, look for hazards and drive safely.”
The scene on Old Waipu Rd a day after a tornado seriously injured two people and damaged around 50 properties, as well as power infrastructure, in Mangawhai, north of Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
Kaipara District Council building inspectors have now finished their assessments, checking more than 90 properties.
Yesterday, an estimated 50 buildings were damaged but the final check showed 35 were affected, with 26 properties white-stickered and nine yellow-stickered.
A yellow sticker means moderate damage and restricted access, while a white sticker means minimal damage but still able to be used.
There were no red stickers, which indicates an immediate risk.
Burt advised affected residents to contact their insurance providers first.
Residents clean up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Alex Burton
Overall about 200 homes still do not have power, including 81 in the Old Waipu Rd area - where more than 20 power poles were toppled - and 65 in Moir Pt, lines company Northpower said in an update just after midday.
“While the aim is to restore power today, homes where there is damage running from the network to the property will take longer to get electricity.”
A generator was used to supply power to 63 homes in Kahu Drive.
Power is still out to about 200 homes in Mangawhai this morning, more than 30 hours after a tornado swept through the township north of Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton
Burt reminded people to treat all wires as live.
“We understand that people want to clean up and get back to normal life as quickly as possible, but until work is completed we need to treat all wires as live and allow Northpower to secure the area.
“The teams are working as hard as they can and we expect to be able to move the cordon back to Kahu Drive late morning, with the cordon removed completely before the end of the day.”
A digger operator at work clearing fallen trees a day a tornado ripped through the beach settlement of Mangawhai, north of Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
Rapid response teams, including first responders and Civil Defence Emergency Management staff, went door to door this morning in Old Waipu Rd to do welfare checks and support residents with anything they needed as part of the multi-agency response to the tornado, Burt said.
By noon, checks on Old Waipu Rd had been completed and teams were now talking to residents in the Moir and Leslie street areas.
A badly damaged home after a tornado struck Mangawhai north of Auckland yesterday. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson said he would be among those knocking on doors.
Daylight yesterday revealed the fury and destructive force of the early-morning tornado, with several homes in Old Waipu Rd left gutted and exposed to the elements.
Two homes had been “completely written off”, said Jepson, who lives in Mangawhai.
Kaipara District Council would also be removing tornado-damaged green waste and items from berms in the most-affected areas this week.
This fence and vehicle were among scores of cases of damage caused by a tornado that ripped through Mangawhai yesterday. Photo / Alex Burton
The mayor also urged people who had already removed debris to keep their waste disposal receipts because they would be needed for their insurance claims.
The Mangawhai council office at The Hub would be open until 6pm today and was available for anyone wanting more information or welfare assistance.
People could also call the council on 0800 727 059 or 09 439 7059.
‘Miracle’ injured woman survived
The family of one woman injured in the tornado say it was a miracle she survived, after the second storey where she was sleeping was completely destroyed.
Tina Johnson suffered a badly broken arm, cuts and bruising after she was thrown from her second storey bedroom by the tornado. She managed to land on a shed on the back of her car port.
Her daughter, Jade Johnson-Price, said her mother had surgery last night and medics were pleased with how it went.
However, she will need more surgery and is expected to be in hospital for a while.
Others were lucky to narrowly escape harm during the frightening weather event, including an Auckland couple whose motorhome was harpooned by a tree seconds after one of them moved to safety.
Dianne Hope-Ede and her partner, Paul, were among the many holidaymakers in the town for the Northland and Auckland Anniversary long weekend.
Paul was seconds away from being killed when the tree limbs plunged through their motorhome, ending up right where he had been sleeping, Hope-Ede said.
The tree limb that pierced the motorhome owned by Dianne Hope-Ede and partner Paul.
The lightning, wind and thunder had woken Hope-Ede at 2am, before abruptly stopping.
“Ooh, I thought, it was over, but if I had been knowledgeable about tornadoes I would have realised that was the eye of it, and the rain and wind whipped up again really, really aggressively.”
Dianne Hope-Ede described the branches as being like pick-up sticks.
Hope-Ede told her partner “this is not right” and the pair got out of bed and headed for the door when they felt the motorhome shaking like an earthquake and heard a terrible roar.
“When it stopped shaking we went out and could see limbs of the tree had harpooned the back end of the motorhome where we had been sleeping, like pick-up sticks skewered from the top of the roof into where it would have killed Paul on his side of the bed,” she said.
Residents clean up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Alex Burton
Another tree limb crashed through the side of the motorhome, which was parked under tall trees at an Old Waipu Rd property.
The outside of the vehicle was covered with fallen trees, including a large uprooted tree with a 50-60cm-diameter trunk, about 7m from the motorhome.
“If that had fallen in a different direction it would have killed us instantly. We were lucky, very lucky,” she said.
Hope-Ede said her partner was a panel beater and made some repairs to allow the couple to drive carefully home to Northcote on Auckland’s North Shore.
“I just hope I don’t dream about it tonight. I want to put it behind me ... it was absolutely terrifying.”
Jepson said so far no emergency housing had been required because affected residents were staying with friends and families.
There had also been multiple offers of accommodation from other residents.
Residents cleaning up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai early yesterday morning. Photo / Alex Burton
Mangawhai was “full” during the storm, with its permanent population of 6000 residents expanded to about 10,000 for the long anniversary weekend in Auckland and Northland.
“It might take them a couple of days to get the Mangawhai village back up. That tells you that the damage is pretty extensive”, he said yesterday.
Power companies working in Moir St to restore electricity to Mangawhai village. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Emergency Management Minister Simeon Brown said he had been briefed on the tornado.
“My heart goes out to those affected, including those seriously injured.”
Traffic on Molesworth Drive in Mangawhai this morning. The settlement north of Auckland was hit by a damaging tornado in the early hours of yesterday morning. Photo / Michael Craig
The storm also struck Waipu and Ruakākā, though Mangawhai appeared to be the worst-hit area.
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