Tornado takes roof at Snells Beach

A small tornado ripped the roof off a house at Snells Beach, east of Warkworth, this morning, leaving half of it on the lawn of a beachside property 300m away.

Warkworth senior fire officer Ian Davies said it took a couple of hours for 12 firefighters to tack down what remained of the flat tin roof and to spread tarpaulins.

He said there was some damage inside, particularly in the lounge, where the roof had flown right off.

Lights and part of a chimney had been pulled through the roof.