Ceiling collapses in freak storm

Jesse Maxwell was watching Breaking Bad when water started ripping onto her bed from her light bulb. About 20 minutes later the ceiling fell through from the water of the water. Photo/Ruth Keber

Tauranga woman Jesse Maxwell narrowly avoided being crushed after her bedroom ceiling collapsed in a freak storm.

And in a separate incident, a tornado blew through Papamoa and damaged house roofs yesterday.

On Thursday night, Ms Maxwell was at her 12th Ave home with her five flatmates in her bedroom watching a DVD when water started dripping through the light bulb about 9.30pm.

"I went to the kitchen to get some pans but then we had to get bigger trays because they were filling up so quickly and they weren't doing anything," she told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend in an exclusive interview.

"The water was building up and building up. We had to change that every couple of minutes."

Ms Maxwell said she and her flatmates moved her belongings out of her bedroom - and then the ceiling fell in.

"It was pouring through my windows, the skirting boards, the roof.

"I went back into my room to get my handbag and as I walked out - I was right outside my door - my door slammed shut and it sounded like there was a thunder storm in there.

"I opened the door again and there was water everywhere. The ceiling was on the ground, it was crazy.

"Where it fell was right where my bed was too. I just started screaming - I didn't know what was going on," said the 21-year-old. They called firefighters who cleared the gutters on the roof.

Flatmate Debbie Lamb said it might have been a different situation had they not acted as quickly as they did.

"If it happened when we were all moving the stuff out of her room ... we decided to move her stuff ASAP but if we hadn't have done that all of her stuff would have been ruined."

The neighbouring bedroom of the flat also had water streaming through the ceiling, walls, skirting but somehow the ceiling managed to stay intact, she said.

The six flatmates were looking for a new rental property when the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend visited the property yesterday.

"We were in a dark, wet house for the night with no electricity and candles for light. Jesse had to sleep in the lounge and others in cars."

Tauranga City Council spokesman Marcel Currin said in a written statement surface flooding and debris were expected after Thursday night's rainfall, but there were no major issues reported aside from another basement that flooded in the Avenues.

MetService meteorologist John Law said Tauranga had 18mm of rainfall on Thursday evening, 12mm of it falling between 10pm and 11pm. Mr Law said showers would be present over the Bay last night but the weekend's weather would be fine with a high of 26C.

Meanwhile, several properties were damaged after yesterday's Papamoa tornado. The tornado struck shortly after 10am and firefighters from Papamoa and Mount Maunganui were called to the Wairakei Ave area after reports of weather damage and flooding.

Metservice meteorologist Paul Nallinson said the unstable atmosphere leftover from Thursday night's heavy rain brought on a spate of wild weather on Friday afternoon.

About 540 lightning strikes were recorded from Thames to the eastern Bay of Plenty on Friday afternoon and evening.

He said that kind of weather was common for this time of year when the moisture in the air triggered sea breezes which brought heavy rains.