Water spouts and mini-tornadoes

There were no reports of damage at Tokerau Beach on Thursday afternoon, but a water spout that began there a little after 2pm may have been responsible for taking the roof off a house at Cooper's Beach.

Scott Collins said he first saw the waterspout at the northern end of the beach and watched as it headed out into the bay until it disappeared into the gloom. He had no way of knowing if it got as far as Cooper's Beach, but the timing was right.

The brief burst of very strong wind that struck Cooper's Beach was enough to have some residents moving away from windows, as much of the roof was ripped off a house next door to the gymnasium. At least four properties on State Highway 10 were damaged by what some described as a mini-tornado at about 2.30pm.

Mangonui Health and Fitness owner Donna Thomson said she and three other people were inside the gym, and while they could not see what was coming they certainly heard it.

"It sounded like thunder," she said.

"There was this terrible roaring sound. It sounded like something rolling towards us."

They watched in horror as the roof was peeled off the house next door and flung through the bedroom ranch slider of the elderly man in the house behind, while the gym windows began pushing inwards. One large window shattered, but no one was injured.

A man at the house next door said no one was home when the roof was peeled off and insulation was strewn all over the lawn.

Two Mangonui Fire Brigade appliances spent almost two hours at the scene.

Metservice severe weather forecaster Erick Brenstrum said no tornado activity had been recorded but there could have been a small tornado or a "straight line" wind.