Mount Maunganui Intermediate will be closed today after announcing that it had suffered "considerable damage".
"As there are health and safety hazards, the school will be closed on Friday," said Principal Lisa Morresey.
Epsom Rd resident Chris Butler said the tornado lasted for about 15 to 20 seconds and smashed their house windows, car windows, brought down their neighbour's garage roof and a large fence at the back of the property.
"We first started hearing whistling then it got louder so we rushed out of the lounge and grabbed our baby as the windows started to smash."
Fire fighters were at his house removing a large piece of wood from his roof.
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Mount Intermediate closed after tornado havoc
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Links Ave resident Shula Newland said she was on her way home from Auckland and drove through the Bayfair area just minutes after the tornado hit.
"We had some heavy rain and all the railway crossings are out. There are a lot of police around. There are a lot of trees and leaves on the road. There are firefighters everywhere."
She arrived home to find firefighters parked outside here house and a 5m long, corrugated iron garden shed on her lawn.
Firefighters told her they believed the shed had come from a property a couple of streets over, perhaps from Ascot Rd.
"It's taken the fence out," she said.
Across the road gutters had been ripped from a house.
"Me and my girls were hanging the washing in the shed. All of a sudden we heard this wind. We just freaked out and ran inside. We went inside and noticed the bedroom windows had been smashed and the TV was smashed. It was a bit freaky," another resident said. "We're all going to sleep in the lounge."
She said they would not be going to work but would be spending the day cleaning up.
"It'll be a big job tomorrow. There's a massive tree in our driveway. The whole driveway's blocked."
She estimated the tree was about 10m long.A Waitui Rd resident said their roof had holes ripped in it and was leaking after being hit by a neighbouring roof which had blown off.
The roof then landed in the backyard knocking down trees and shrubs.
The owner of the house said they had just sold their house and were due to hand it over tomorrow.
Earlier coverage from last night:
10:35pm: Part of Baypark's roof has been torn off.
Bay Venues chief executive Gary Dawson said the roof at the eastern end of the stadium had been blown off.
"There's roofing iron scattered around. Luckily there's no offices been damaged. It looks like it's just clipped us."
Council contractors and the fire service were picking up the corrugated iron scattered on the rugby field so it would not be blown around if the wind picked up again, he said.
Due to storm damage one lane is closed between Girven Rd and Golf Rd to facilitate the clear up operation. Traffic control is in place. Expect delays and avoid the area if possible.
A St John spokesperson said there had been no injuries reported.
10:29pm: The Fire Service said at least 30 houses had their roofs blown off and also suffered other damage such as smashed windows.
Twenty fire trucks and crews are currently responding across the Mount - including at Bayfair shopping centre and Baypark.
10.20pm: On Maunganui Rd between Golf Rd and Girven Rd trees had been ripped on to the road. The street lights are all out and powerlines had been affected.
Te Puke Senior Station officer Keith Merritt said a large industrial shed has been torn apart on Owens Place. Only one wall was left standing and the steel poles were twisted.
Mr Merritt esitmated about 80 per cent had been ripped from the structure. The (wall and roof) debris had covered the On Gas yard and were waiting for authorities to inspect it.
There was also debris blow on to train tracks, which firefighters were clearing.
Firefighters from Rotorua were called, and he believed the tornado had also affented parts of Papamoa.
Daniel Samuelson was sitting in his lounge with his wife and daughter when the tornado blew is 1.8m timber fence over.
"It sounded like thunder.
"I was sitting in the lounge and I hit mute on the remote and then heard then wind.
"Our little girl is 4-and-a-half and she didn't like it too much.
"Our neighbours on both sides have their windows smashed and tiles ripped of."
Mr Samuelson said his gararge door at the front of his house was ripped off. He did not yet know whether anything inside his garage was damaged.
Fire assistant commander Jeff Maunder said firefighters had been called to more than 20 jobs with more stacking up on the waiting list.
"It's done quite a lot of damage around the central Mount area along Golf Rd and Links Ave."
10.11pm: "I dropped to my knees - it felt like the roof was going to lift off."
This was how Erika Mitchell reacted as a mini-tornado wreaked "carnage" in her street and ripped through her Waitui Grove property, knocking down a 4m-5m section of a 1.5m-high wooden trellis fence and ripping out her letterbox tonight.
Mrs Mitchell, wife of Tauranga New Zealand First list MP Clayton Mitchell, said the tornado "came as a bit of a surprise to be honest" just after 8.30pm and "bellowed through" after bad weather had been building for about an hour.
The door and upper level of their home shook and she discovered the damaged fence and letterbox outside. Outdoor furniture was blown around.
Her 9-year-old daughter, Jazmin, came running from her room but her two sons slept through. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Neighbours were also hit with windows blown out and fences blown down - and one neighbour's caravan was blown out into the middle of the road.
"Half the street were out within minutes, checking on each other," she said.
"That's the nice thing, the community and everyone checking on each other."
Trees and branches were down at nearby Waitui Park and a tree had come down on a transformer in the street.
Mrs Mitchell said her main concern was that no one was hurt or suffered any extensive damage.
A reporter on the scene said a trampoline had been wrapped around a power pole on Lodge Ave, trees were down and roofs had been lifted off.
A fire fighter Jeff Maunder said the tornado had done damage from Lodge Ave right through to Bayfair.
9.22pm: Roofs have been lifted off, windows smashed and garden sheds hurled across properties by a mini-tornado.
Links Ave resident Adelle Fleming said a 3m by 5m garden shed had landed on her fence.
"It's been absolutely trashed. It's a mess," she said. "It's caved in my fence and I can't get out of my driveway.
"My neighbours across the road one of the streetlights has landed on their roof. My next door neighbour has lost some of her roof and their windows were smashed in."
There were bits of corrugated iron strewn across her yard and a metal deck umbrella holder had landed on her deck.
"I was reading a story to my daughter in bed. I just heard a massive gust and I could feel it on the back of my neck because the window's right there. I thought the window was going to break and the roof felt like it was going to lift off. Then the power went off. It was within a matter of 20 seconds.
"It's scary for the kids."
UPDATED: 9:03pm: It is believed about 15 roofs have been ripped off houses in Mount Maunganui after a mini-tornado swept through.
EARLIER: A mini tornado is thought to have ripped through Mount Maunganui.
Fire fighters are responding to numerous calls about roofs being ripped of houses around Lodge Ave and Links Ave.
A fire service Northern Communications spokeswoman confirmed the destruction appeared to have been caused by a mini tornado.
A tree was split in half and debris was strewn over the road opposite the Links Ave Reserve.
Power was also cut to houses in Omanu about 8.30pm.
Traffic lights are out and the barrier arms at the rail crossing on Matapihi Rd are locked down.
Powerco's website said the fault was under inspection and should have been fixed by midnight