Asbestos danger after 'unreal' tornado rips roof off Christchurch auto shop
Monday, 18 November 2019
Dramatic video shows the moment a tornado ripped an asbestos-containing roof off a Christchurch auto shop, spewing contaminated debris into the air.
A senior fire manager has warned people not to touch any debris from the tornado, which hit the city just before 2pm on Monday.
The tornado ripped off parts of a roof containing asbestos, blowing contaminated debris over Wordsworth St in Sydenham.
It came off DJ Auto Importer's roof and was now drying and crumbling on the street.
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Bevan Brough was in his office across the road from the car company when the tornado hit.
'There was all this hail, thunder and lightning and I was just watching the lightning and then I looked down and could see the wind picking up bits of rubbish and that.
'All of a sudden I started seeing this iron [about 400 metres away].'
He could see it heading towards his office and hid behind his desk, he said.
'It was just unreal, the force of it.'
Firefighters in the area were wearing masks.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant area commander Mike Bowden warned people should not pick up any debris.
'[We have] a swathe of damage through Christchurch from this very short and sharp burst of weather,' Bowden said.
Damage had been reported from Sydenham to New Brighton, with reports of the tornado lifting roofs and ripping off air conditioning units, he said.
Canterbury medical officer of health Dr Alistair Humphrey said the public health risk from asbestos in this case was minimal.
'There's always a concern when you've got asbestos blowing around, but I'm sure the fire service has the matter in hand and they will clean it up appropriately.'
Inhaling or swallowing asbestos fibres can cause scarring of the lung, as well as types of cancer, according to the Ministry of Health website.
While there was no established safe limit, the ministry website said the risk from a single, low-level exposure was extremely low. The presence of asbestos-containing material was not a risk in itself, the ministry said. There was risk of health problems if the fibres became airborne.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman Andrew Norris said the Southern Communications centre received about 25 weather-related callouts between 2 and 3pm as the storm made its way across Christchurch.
He said crews attended callouts for air conditioners, trees, powerlines and roofs being lifted by heavy winds throughout the city.
Two of the more serious incidents involved roofs being lifted at SaveMart in Sydenham and the building on Wordsworth St.
Fire crews were on scene cleaning up the asbestos-ridden debris which was strewn across Wordsworth St. The cleanup was expected to take about an hour, Norris said.
Crews were also attending to four small fires in trees, which surround paddocks in Leeston.
Another fire, about 200m in size, was also burning in sand dunes at Waikuku beach. The fires were understood to have started following lightning strikes.
A Christchurch Transport Operations Centre spokesman said the thunderstorm had blown roof debris onto Wordsworth St, between Waltham Rd and Gasson St and as a result the road was closed shortly after 3pm.