A severe thunderstorm watch is in force for Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Video / Supplied
A tornado has ripped through a campsite near Whanganui, leaving behind a trail of destruction and hospitalising one person.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed a tornado had gone through the Dudding Lake campground, overturning one caravan and injuring one person.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson saidthey were notified of the incident at 12.38pm and responded with one ambulance.
Rangitīkei Mayor Andy Watson told the Herald he went to a scene of “devastation” at Dunning Lake, with a number of trees brought down, partially blocking access to the campsite.
“The most crucial damage was a caravan that was lifted up, thrown over the top of a car, and landed upside down with the person still inside it.”
Watson said the person inside had only “superficial” injuries.
“There were other caravans knocked off their foundations, their land wheels, There was a shed that held the electrical switchboards for the complex absolutely destroyed. That was still live.”
A shelter has been demolished after a tornado ripped through a rural campsite in Rangitīkei District this afternoon.
Power has been cut off to the site and Watson said a lot of building work will need to be done to reinstall a shed to house power.
“There was another shed lifted up and probably moved 50,60 metres away through the air, part of it landing in the lake, but totally destroyed.”
Watson said there is significant localised damage to the campsite and it will be closed to casual campers until power can be re-established.
“Hopefully that should be very short term, I think that we can move reasonably quickly on that.”
Fire and Emergency said the tornado had downed trees and powerlines. Photo / Rangitīkei District Council
Elsewhere, the mayor told the Herald a very large, mature pine tree was smashed but no one was camping under it.
“I think we’ve come out of it very, very luckily,” Watson said.
Dudding Lake caretaker and resident Lance Phillips said he had been in the area for five years and came to the area growing up but had never seen anything like today’s tornado.
“It’s one to tell your grandkids!” Phillips said.
“We just heard it first, I was up at the house and heard a rumble then a bang and I realised one of the trees had come down”.
Phillips said one of the campers called him and asked him to head down to the site.
The campsite impacted by the tornado will be closed until further notice. Photo / Rangitīkei District Council
When he arrived, he found a little girl in a bus who was “shaken up”, but no one was seriously hurt.
