"I've never seen anything so scary. To see it all happening right in front of your eyes like that ... You didn't know what you were driving over."
Mount Maunganui resident Samantha Savory, 25, and her partner Barry Watson, 30, were on their way to pick up Miss Savory's newly repaired car when the tornado hit.
They were on Maunganui Rd near Links Ave Reserve when things started flying through the air around them. "We were just driving along and there was a massive flash of lightening and all the lights went off. I looked up and saw some things flying through the air. I realised it was massive sheets of iron."
In front of them they saw posts and trees landing on the road.
The car ahead of them crashed into a tree, which landed right in front of them.