Clean-up in Hamilton after 'mini-tornado' rips through

Residents in parts of Hamilton are cleaning up today after what was described as a mini-tornado hit the city last night.

A quick violent storm that came in from the east brought down trees over a wide area, blocking roads.

It also blew the roofs off several houses in Hillcrest and Cambridge Rd, leading to call-outs for Fire Service crews.

Hamilton station officer Neil Patrick said the couple of streets that his crew went to looked like they hit by "a little mini-tornado".

"There were two of three houses which had quite a bit of damage," he said.

"We had to patch them up and assess the area."

Mr Patrick said the bad weather hit between 9pm and 10pm.

"It was a severe little storm with really, really heavy rain, and thunder and lightning," he said.

"Then this twister popped out of it."

He said no-one needed to be evacuated and things were getting back to normal.

He understood that all roads were now clear to traffic.

"There's just a big clean-up for people this morning."

- NZPA