KEY POINTS:
A state of emergency has been declared in the New Plymouth district tonight after a series of tornadoes ripped through the region.
Police said about seven tornados hit the region during an electrical storm in Oakura, Egmont Village, Inglewood and the Waitara area about 5.30pm.
A Taranaki Civil Defence spokesperson said the most serious damage was centred on Oakura where tornados had travelled right through the township.
Up to 50 houses were damaged, with some sustaining damage of up to 70 to 80 per cent. Many were uninhabitable, the spokesperson said.
One woman had been injured and an unknown number of people trapped in a vehicle by power lines on the corner of Wiremu Rd and Ihaia Rd towards Opunake.
A welfare centre was being set up in Oakura to provide somewhere for local victims to go and to assess what people need.
The Oakura fish and chip shop was making sandwiches for people who had missed out on dinner.
The main hazard was live power wires that were down.
But, roads were beginning to reopen and some power was being restored.
Electricity supply to about 7000 consumers was disrupted by the tornados, Powerco network operations manager Ross Dixon said.
Power outages started about 5.30pm and affected areas including Urenui, Waitara, Bell Block, Oakura, Pungarehu, Normanby, Hawera as well as Rata, near Bulls and Raetihi
Mr Dixon said damage to the network included broken lines and downed poles and there had been a number of reports of lines down across roads.
Lightning strikes had also caused faults.
He said anyone seeing overhead lines down should keep well clear, treat them as live and report them to Powerco.
Mr Dixon said power should be restored to most by 2am tomorrow, though some consumers -- including parts of Oakura -- would be without power overnight.
- NZPA
