Waitara tornado: Homes damaged, roofs torn off in Taranaki

A Waitara woman was sleeping next to her 5-year-old granddaughter when a tornado tore through the Taranaki settlement just after midnight.

The twister ripped part of the roof off her home, destroying a glasshouse, flattening trees, scattering wooden beams across paddocks and tossing a neighbour’s trampoline into the air.

“I woke to that horrific noise, and the peeling back of sheets of iron,” Shirlene Paterson said.

“It was boom and then a bang. It was really quick, and then there was no wind and it was dry for a bit.”

Paterson’s 100-year-old home was among 11 damaged when the tornado ripped through Waitara early this morning, with roofs lifted, fences flattened and solar panels damaged at properties in Tuiti, Bayly, Aratapu and Mace Sts, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said.

Their home in Tuiti St had a large part of its roof ripped off, as well as receiving damage to a “major structural apex”, Paterson said.

“[And] there’s just stuff everywhere. A bottlebrush tree has been blitzed. I can see someone’s trampoline, and it’s not in the right place.

“It’s a mess, but we are fine.”

Shirlene and Mark Paterson woke to part of their roof being ripped off as a tornado tore through Waitara this morning. Photo / Shirlene Paterson

She and her husband Mark Paterson are insured.

A neighbour across a paddock had also suffered property damage, and had needed to seek shelter for herself and her children elsewhere, Paterson said.

Another neighbour a few houses down Tuiti St looked like they’d lost part of their roof, with a tarpaulin now covering the gaping hole.

Paterson’s husband, who was sleeping in another room, was also woken by the tornado but their granddaughter slept through, Paterson said.

The child was returned to her parents immediately after the tornado, Paterson’s knock at the door being answered with confusion as that part of Waitara was unaffected.

Almost 20 firefighters rushed to Waitara to help residents affected by this morning's tornado in Waitara, including Shirlene and Mark Paterson of Tuiti St. Photo / Shirlene Paterson

As she drove her granddaughter home, Paterson saw “flashing lights” everywhere and had huge praise for those who came to the aid of others in need last night – with many volunteers among those who stepped up.

“The people that come out in the night and the rain, and do the job, they’re awesome.”

A glasshouse was among the victims of a tornado that tore through Waitara this morning. Photo / Shirlene Paterson

That sense of community extended to neighbours, with one contacting her at 3am, she said.

“[They said] ‘Are you guys all right? We can hear hammering’.”

Their chickens, sheep and cows were all okay, but her cat hadn’t emerged this morning, Paterson said.

Shirlene and Mark Paterson’s 100-year-old home pictured at first light, several hours after it was among 11 homes damaged when a tornado tore through the Taranaki settlement of Waitara just after midnight. Photo / Shirlene Paterson

And she’d had no sleep, but is feeling okay – and grateful.

“I’ve got the fire going ... I’m warm, dry and safe.”

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.