Tornado rips through Mangawhai, Northland

Friday, 26 June 2020

Locals initially believed debris sucked up into the tornado were birds.

A tornado has ripped through a coastal town in Northland.

Did you see the tornado? Email us at aucklandnewsroom@stuff.co.nz

Locals in Mangawhai, about two hours north of the Auckland CBD, reported seeing debris being sucked into the air.

Builder Samuel Garratt was working on a construction site nearby the tornado on Cove Rd, and described it as 'pretty freaky'.

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The tornado reportedly lasted about five minutes.

The weather had since settled and the tornado dissipated, he added.

'I couldn't believe it. I was just shocked it was happening in front of me.'

However, disbelief quickly turned into concern when he remembered the house he'd been working on had only had the roof installed on Thursday. It was yet to be fully secured.

Mangawhai locals have reported seeing debris being sucked into the sky by a tornado.

'If it [the tornado] did come our way… It would have been disastrous.'

Tony Orton, also a builder, said the 'full on' tornado had ripped up some trees.

“The main thing we saw was a lot of roof iron getting ripped up, and there were a lot of sign posts flying around in the air.

“It came up the ridge and was ripping up trees, it was pretty full on actually.”

Rob Cameron told Stuff he watched as the tornado touch down a few times.

“We could see a little bit of iron flying around”.

He estimated the tornado only lasted about five minutes.

A local resident, who didn't want to be named, said the tornado was unusual because it appeared to form, collapse, and then re-form a few times.

She said the cloud in which it formed from was very low.

'You could almost reach out and touch the cloud, it was quite close.'

She felt sorry for the people who had lost their roofs, but was grateful the tornado hadn't hit a more populated area.

'We were awe-struck more than anything. It was like an out-of-body experience.'

Another woman, Sarah, said wind from the tornado smashed a window in her art gallery in Mangawhai Heads.

Rob Dixon was letting his dog outside when an abnormal whooshing sound caught his attention.

“It looked like an inverted cone”.

He said the tornado was on-and-off for a bit, but became really strong as thunder and lightning moved in.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said they sent one fire engine to the scene due to some roofs lifting.

A MetService spokesman confirmed there had been some thunderstorm activity in the area, including lightning strikes.