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The tornado which ripped through Auckland's North Shore yesterday afternoon has captivated the world's media, with the BBC carrying a story headlined "Tornado rips through New Zealand city of Auckland".
"The dark grey column of swirling air and cloud tore off roofs, flattened trees and tossed vehicles aside. It cut a three mile path through suburbs of Auckland, killing at least one person," Louisa Baldini reported.
Sky News Australia reported the "terrifying twister travelled south at 200 kilometres per hour across a five-kilometre strip, leaving a path of destruction that had bystanders recounting images from the Hollywood disaster movie, Twister".
The Toronto Sun carried the headline "Tornado tears through N.Z.'s largest city", while the Houston Chronicle reported the tornado sent "debris slicing through the air ... causing significant damage to a shopping mall".
Chinese news site Xinhua had the headline "Tornado batters New Zealand Auckland's North Shore".
"A sudden and powerful tornado left a trail of destruction through New Zealand's largest city of Auckland on Tuesday, killing one person, injured 14 others," the story read.
Al Jazeera English also reported a "powerful tornado ripped through the Albany area" in New Zealand's largest city.
"New Zealand has seen its fair share of natural disasters in recent history," the Arab broadcaster's reporter said, referring to the devastating 6.3 magnitude aftershock which struck Christchurch on February 22.
Other media also reported the tornado was just the latest of disasters to strike New Zealand in recent months.
"A tornado twisted through the North Shore of New Zealand's largest city on Tuesday, killing and injuring shoppers at Westfield Albany mall and adding to woes in the Pacific Island nation that is still struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake earlier this year," The Wall Street Journal reported.
