Gale-force fury lashes North Island

Gales, a mini-tornado and rain wreaked havoc in the North Island yesterday - toppling trees, ripping roofs from buildings and causing a widespread power cut in Taupo.

Forecasters warned last night that the foul weather was likely to linger for the rest of the school holidays.

Gales ripped roofs from houses and toppled powerlines, and torrential rain caused slips that closed roads across Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

Te Awamutu felt the full brunt, and residents told of a "mini tornado" that ripped up 20 trees in one street.

"Anything that's not tied down is blown away," said deputy fire station officer Murray Gillard.

"I've been in the brigade when Cyclone Bola came through [in 1988], and I think this one's a bit worse than Bola because we've had more calls with this one."

In Whakatane, heavy rain left residents nervous and fearful of yet another flood. The district has been hit by several storms in the past year, costing million of dollars.

More than 10,000 homes in the Taupo region were without power yesterday after strong winds blew a corrugated iron roof into a substation and toppled more than 40 trees on to power lines.

"It started off with a few customers in the morning, then more and more calls came in through the day as more powerlines were damaged, before basically all of Taupo was without power," said Unison customer relations manager Danny Gough.

By 8 o'clock last night, power had been restored to urban areas, but several hundred homes in rural areas were still in the dark.

Last night, Civil Defence warned Taupo residents to boil all drinking water, check on their neighbours and to stay at home.

A further 2500 people were without power in Wairarapa, Manawatu, Tararua, Wanganui, Taranaki, South Waikato, Hauraki Plains, Coromandel and Western Bay of Plenty, Powerco's network operations manager Phil Marsh said.

In Te Awamutu, Pauline Lofthouse was checking how her vehicle repair shop, Pitt Stop Garage, was coping in the wind when the roof was pulled from over her head.

"It was very frightening, my heart's still going ... one second it was there and the next it was gone."

Te Awamutu senior station fire officer Lex Soepnel said staff had been "flat tack" all day and had been called to about five electrical fires caused by fallen powerlines.

Northern fire communications shift manager Scott Osmond said more than 100 weather-related calls had been received, most from Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

"Earlier in the morning, we got reports of flooding and lines down in Whakatane and Ohope. Then early afternoon we got calls about very strong winds and roofs and trees down in Te Awamutu. We've had a few calls about roofs coming off in Taupo too."

Weather Watch chief analyst Philip Duncan said the wet weather would linger until Tuesday as an aggressive low moved across the country.

"I can't see it getting much better very quickly. The winds might not be as damaging in the next few days, but they are likely to reach gale force in the central North Island."

Auckland is likely to be hit with strong winds tomorrow but these are not expected to be as damaging as the gales yesterday, he said.

The MetService was slightly more optimistic last night, saying strong southeasterlies and rain should ease on Friday and Saturday, but scattered showers would continue.

Slips yesterday closed roads in Whakatane and Tauranga and flooding affected roads in Whitianga.

On State Highway 5 north of Taupo, fallen trees and powerlines blocked the southbound lane, and rocks obstructed SH25 near Waihi.

A mini-tornado also ripped through houses in Waikawa Bay, near Picton, yesterday morning.

Resident Vaughan Hokianga said it tore through a neighbouring house, peeling its roof off.

"We heard this big bang and the roof peeled of the house. Then it sped around and went up in a circle and went about 500m up in the air.

"Then it exploded and disintegrated and got blown onto the hill."

- additional reporting by TRN and NZPA