Tornado town slowly gets back on its feet

Builders Stan McCallum (left) and Phil Gardyne undertake repairs in Collins St, the area worst affected by last week's tornado. Picture / Simon Barker

A Greymouth community is getting back on its feet a week after a tornado ripped through houses and businesses.

It has not rained in the West Coast town since the twister hit last Thursday week - a very dry spell for the rainy province - and the Grey District Mayor hopes the rain will hold to allow more repair work to begin.

"Yes, it's starting to look like happy endings might be made all round," Tony Kokshoorn said this week.

"I did the rounds yesterday and there were two builders on roofs. This morning there were three."

Most importantly, Lorraine Wilson-Perrott has been happily reunited with her white Burman cat Jasper, which disappeared during the twister. 

The Tauranga woman was injured in the tornado when she was pinned under her campervan. She was cut from the wreckage and taken to hospital, but while she was there her camera and other belongings were stolen from her car.

The cat was not seen again until Wednesday when Mrs Wilson-Perrott was discharged from hospital.

"She went back to where the campervan had been and started calling and calling, and what do you know, the cat just walked out of the scrub," Mr Kokshoorn said. "The cat must have heard Mum's voice.

On Collins St, the area worst affected by the tornado, repairs were under way for two of the 11 houses destroyed or badly damaged, although others remain swathed in tarpaulins.

Bob Hunt was watching cricket on television when the tornado hurled his neighbour's garage through the wall and into the lounge.

"It's one of a hundred near-miss stories, but I still can't believe everyone survived. Especially me," he said.

Since then, he and wife Kath have been living in a caravan. Most of his house roof has been resealed, and power was expected to be on last night.

"I'd say we'd been the luckiest ones. We had builders here three days after the tornado. My neighbour's says it will be another week before they can tell if the house will have to go."

Once the power is on, the couple will be able to start vacuuming away the "millions of shards of glass" embedded when the garage ploughed through their windows.

At engineering firm Dispatch and Garlick, work is also under way to repair the 132-year-old building. The owners hope to save some of the walls and window frames indicative of the West Coast architecture of its era.

Initial stories of builders bumping up their prices to capitalise on the disaster are unfounded, said the mayor.

"It just seems some insurance companies have been able to work faster than others at assessing the situation."

The Mayoral Relief Fund has so far raised $100,000, including $50,000 from the Government.