Roofs were ripped off homes, fences were blown over, trees were uprooted and trampolines were flung onto powerlines after a tornado in Hamilton last night.
MetService has also issued several strong wind warnings and watches as a strong west to southwest flow affects the country in the coming days.
Tornado leaves trail of damage on Hamilton streets – Watch on TVNZ+
Civil Defence Waikato controller Kelvin Powell said a small tornado accompanied by heavy rain moved through parts of Nawton at around 8pm.
“Council and emergency services responded quickly to ensure the safety of the community – our top priority. Fallen trees, debris and rubbish were cleared from the streets, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand assisted a few homeowners in securing minor roof damage.
“A trampoline became airborne and struck a power box, cutting power to approximately 75 homes. WEL Networks responded promptly, and power has been fully restored.”
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said the extreme weather “must have been terrifying” for those affected by it.
“We’re glad that no one was hurt.”
Asked if residents should have had more warning, Southgate said it “came out of the blue” and the most extreme weather was not always predictable.
“Sometimes the weather takes us by surprise, we see that in both New Zealand and overseas, it’s sometimes worse than we think.”
She said the focus for cleanup efforts today would be on making sure properties were safe and that infrastructure was in “good order”.
“A big thanks, as always, to the emergency services, to the power companies, who are always straight onto it, and, of course, to the wonderful civil defence team.”
Fire and Emergency NZ said it responded to multiple weather-related callouts overnight. Among them was a report of roof tiles lifting in Dinsdale.
It also received multiple callouts from Clevedon and Mangatangi for trees and power lines down.
Hundreds of homes were hit with power outages overnight, with 174 without power in Melville for a time.
‘Pretty scary’ – MetService on severe wind
MetService’s Heather Keats said she was “not surprised” by the damage in Hamilton given the scale of the storms.
“We saw evidence on the radar of a hook, which is kind of like a signal and echo, if you like, of what could have potentially happened.”
Hook-shaped weather radar signatures are one of the key hallmarks of a tornado-producing storm.
She said tornadoes were difficult to identity until the path was visible in the daylight.
“Looking at that damage, that’s pretty scary.”
MetService also issued several orange strong wind warnings for Hawke’s Bay, the Chatham Islands, Southland and parts of Otago.
The forecaster said a strong west to southwest flow affected the country on Friday.
Hawke’s Bay (from Napier southwards) and Tararua District was forecast to face severe westerly gales gusting up to 130 km/h from noon Friday to 10pm Saturday.
Similar conditions were forecast for the Chatham Islands from 9am Saturday to 10am Sunday, with gusts up to 120 km/h, turning southwesterly with squally thunderstorms and heavy swells.
Southern Fiordland, Southland, Stewart Island, Clutha, and Dunedin would experience the strongest winds from 3pm Friday to 1pm Saturday, with gusts up to 130 km/h, particularly along the coast, and a risk of coastal thunderstorms.
Watches are in place for Wairarapa from 8am to 5pm Saturday and for the Canterbury high country from midnight Friday to noon Saturday, where winds may approach severe gale levels.
‘Deafening’ – Resident describes ‘violent’ wind
Brendon Moses told 1News the wind left a trail of damage down Ranui St in western Hamilton. (Source: Breakfast)
Brendon Moses told 1News he heard a loud bang before violent wind struck his home.
“I opened the door and saw everything being lifted upwards,” he said.
“I closed the door immediately and got our whānau to locate themselves in the middle of the house where it has the most reinforcing.”
He said the wind was “deafening” and shook the house.
“I could feel the pressure and the wind just pushing everything around, the things outside were really alarming, they were hitting the house.”
Moses said the tornado only lasted a few minutes, but left a trail of damage, including torn-down sunshades and rubbish bins blown across the street.
“Multiple fences were down and two roofs on Ranui St were missing,” he said.
Jordan Ridgway told Breakfast that the weather changed really quickly, going from calm to “crazy” in seconds.
“My husband with our 8-week old in his hands opened the door, and the wind just started going crazy.”
She said it was isolated to around 10 to 20 seconds of “absolute mad wind” that “came from out of nowhere”.
“It was very quick but violent, I’ve never felt wind that strong before.”
Around 20 roof tiles were ripped off the roof and two fences were blown over, she said.
Ridgway also said she was pleased to see neighbours outside helping each other clean up after the storm.
“We hope everyone’s okay and it’s quite a good little street for helping everyone out, I think we’ll see a lot of helping out today.”
Nicole Grayson was walking to her sleep-out when the wind hit and told 1News the force of it nearly blew her off her feet.
“It was crazy strong,” she said.
“My trampoline flew through our window and took out the gutter on the house, landing on the fence and neighbour’s driveway.”