"lt just came and [was] gone within 30 seconds." Video / Jason Dorday
Trees have fallen on homes, tiles were ripped from roofs and windows blown out in Auckland’s West Harbour as what neighbours described as a tornado struck.
One resident said not a single home on one of the roads was unscathed.
The MetService confirmed gusts of 100km/h hadripped through the area today but forecasters said they were not confident the damage was caused by a tornado.
Charles Li was in the kitchen of his mother-in-law’s home in West Harbour when the “tornado” hit.
“About 9 o’clock this morning, I was in the kitchen with my son, and it was normal like storm weather, like just loud wind and rain like throughout the night, but then for about 30 seconds, it just was like berserk.
“It felt like a cyclone or a tornado, the house was shaking a bit.
“My wife ran down from up here going, ‘it’s really bad’ but then it kind of stopped and calmed down by which point we had a look around the house and yeah, roof tiles are off.
“Then we started having leaks inside the house, probably three major leaks.”
A sign from a kindergarten 100m down the road ended up in Jeremy Corner's backyard. Photo / Jeremy Corner.
Corner said his home had a tree blow on top of it, and an arborist was assessing the damage as he spoke to the Herald.
“I’m concerned about all the people that are going to be coming home from work and see [the holes in the roofs] because it’s torrential rain, just leaks coming through their houses.”
Jeremy Corner said a tree came down on his home. Photo / Jeremy Corner.
The owner of a Francesca Place home in West Harbour received a call from a neighbour about 10am saying his rental property had been hit by the reported tornado.
“They rang and just said, ‘Your window’s blown out and a tornado’s gone through, so you might want to come and check it’. So we shot out here and we’ve got roof tiles and a window gone.”
The man said the gusts pushed the large front window in the second storey of the property in on itself.
“That’s flown in, so it’s like glass everywhere inside… I wasn’t here to witness it, but it’s been pretty strong.”
MetService meteorologist Katie Hillyer said at this stage, there was no evidence of an actual tornado, but they could not be 100% sure.
“It is more likely squalls... straight line gusts of about 90km/h to 100km/h.”
She said with the amount of rainfall covering the radar, it was difficult to determine if it was or wasn’t a tornado, but either way, the damage could still be “very severe”.
Earlier, Fire and Emergency assistant commander Dave Hatton said a small tornado blew through Blockhouse Bay this morning, sending debris flying.
A man said he was “lucky to be alive” after a street light crashed down just metres in front of his car while a building collapsed just down the road in Avondale.
Auckland remained under a severe thunderstorm watch until 1pm.
