Katikati tornado: Mum and kids hide in hallway as Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard hit

A tornado toppled poles in a kiwifruit orchard on Pukakura Rd, Katikati. Photo / Supplied

A mum and three kids took shelter in a hallway as a “violent” tornado barrelled past their home toppling trees and poles, and causing “significant” damage to a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard.

It’s another in a series of tornados reported in New Zealand in recent days.

Shelley Edmiston and Marc Jenkins’ family of six live on an orchard on Pukakura Rd in Katikati, near Tauranga.

Edmiston and the girls - aged 16, 13 and 13 - were home while a 9-year-old boy was out with his father when the tornado hit before 5pm Tuesday.

Edmiston told the Bay of Plenty Times thunderstorms and heavy rain rolled through before the tornado arrived “out of the blue”.

They heard it first - a “loud and violent” noise.

They looked out the lounge ranch slider and saw debris flying as a tornado tore through the kiwifruit orchard, taking out tall trees and orchard poles as it neared their yard.

“There was debris flying everywhere. I saw furniture and things flying past.

“We ran for cover.”

Edmiston’s instinct was to get the girls away from the glass door, so they dashed into the hallway and waited for it to pass.

“It felt like being in the eye of a storm. We could see everything around us moving in a whirl.”

A heavy glass table was picked up off the deck and tossed, and a brick wall near the garage fell over, just missing Edmiston’s car.

She said the house was fine and no one was injured, but they did not realise the extent of the damage to the orchard until later.

Their street connected to Beach Rd and she suspected the funnel could have come from the ocean, as had tornadoes in Waihi Beach in February.

Orchard manager Jenkins said the damage was “significant” and estimated the bill could run to $100,000.

He said trees had been torn up, huge poles had come down on kiwifruit vines and shelter cloths had been lost or ripped.

Dealing with “mother nature”, however, was all part of working in horticulture.

Firefighters were called to Pukakura Rd to help with clean-up from the storm.

Simon Lyford from the Fire and Emergency northern communications team said two crews from Katikati were called about 4.30pm to reports of trees and lines down.

They found trees had fallen and taken out the lines. Firefighters removed debris until the lines company arrived, and returned later this evening to continue helping with the clean-up.

He said no major damage to homes in the area was recorded.

Metservice forecaster Aidan Pyselman said forecasters had seen social media reports of a possible tornado in Katikati.

The Bay of Plenty had been under a severe thunderstorm watch this afternoon but that had since lifted, he said.

The Herald reported earlier today that New Zealand had been hit by four tornadoes in three consecutive days.

A teenager in Paraparaumu was injured when a tornado sent the sleepout he was in airborne, and property was damaged in east Auckland, the Nelson region and Taranaki.