A shed was completely destroyed and an ambulance crushed as strong winds and heavy rain battered the Bay of Plenty overnight.
Brief tornadoes and extensive damage were reported by locals as wild weather swept the region.
A small shed on a property in Thornton near Whakatāne was destroyed after strongwinds blew it apart about 10.30pm, a Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said.
No people or nearby properties were at any risk, he said.
The crushed ambulance in Ōhope. Photo / Ohope Volunteer Brigade
Whakatāne resident Chris Graham had his trampoline blown 10m to 15m across his lawn, his horse float blown into a fence and a tree topple down in one of his paddocks.
He said the strong wind had come through quickly and had the whole house shaking and glass flexing.
Chris Graham's trampoline was blown 10m to 15m across his lawn. Photo / Supplied
Graham had the job of cleaning up the mess this morning with various things strewn across his lawn.
His advice for people was to keep an eye on weather warnings and secure things down when strong winds came through.
Chris Graham's trampoline was blown 10m to 15m across his lawn. Photo / Supplied
In Tauranga, the festive cheer was quite literally dampened as strong winds tore apart a local church's Christmas display.
Changepoint Church in Ohauiti had their Christmas light display ripped up by the winds.
The Ohauiti Christmas display destroyed. Photo / Supplied
One of the marques was "completely ripped to shreds by the wind and the velocity of the storm," said the church's Jon Dishroon.
A number of properties were plunged into darkness after powercuts rippled through the region.
1589 Mount Maunganui properties were affected by a powercut about 4.15pm as a palm frond blew into a powerline. It was restored quickly.
Another power outage affected 154 Pukehina residents about 5pm but was restored within a couple of hours.
