Auckland tornados: Ambulance hit with debris as woman gives birth inside

Saturday, 27 June 2020

A tornado moves across Auckland near Greenmount, on Saturday morning.

An ambulance had its windows smashed in by a tornado as a woman was giving birth inside.

The tornado has hit hard across parts of Auckland, with roofs and buildings damaged, and trees knocked down.

Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Craig Dally said the tornado pushed a shed up against the ambulance, blowing in its windows about 9.12am.

Firefighters helped make the area safe, he said.

The tornado was spotted just before 9am on Saturday.

* Overnight thunderstorm warning for northern regions; chance of more tornadoes

Victoria Dairy CCTV captures debris - including a trampoline - being thrown around by a tornado in Papatoetoe, south Auckland.

* Tornado rips through Mangawhai, Northland

* Wild weather in Auckland brings down trees and power lines, causes flooding

St John Auckland Central territory manager Richard Gray said the ambulance was parked when debris hit its right side.

Damage to Elite Bathroomware's site in Allens Rd, East Tamaki.

The woman, in a moderate condition, was not affected by the incident, and the two ambulance officers attending to her were unharmed.

She was taken to hospital by a second ambulance while the damaged ambulance was taken off the road for repairs, he added.

A late night tornado in Dairy Flat toppled trees on the Patersons property.

East Tamaki Heights resident Wesley Hunkin told Stuff he was seeing his wife off to work when he spotted the tornado just before 9am on Saturday.

'It seemed to have quite a bit of debris in it but I couldn't tell if there was anything big.'

Alan Wilson did not see the tornado travelling through Ōtara but he captured the devastation in his street afterwards.

East Tamaki Heights resident Wesley Hunkin captured a tornado on Saturday morning after a night of wild weather.

Hunkin said the tornado dissipated after about two minutes.

Alan Wilson who lives on Franklyne Rd in Ōtara said the rain got louder before his house started shaking as the tornado moved through.

His fence had been toppled, the barbecue thrown about 10 metres while trees had been uprooted and toppled.

A neighbour's trampoline was wrapped in the power lines and a marquee had hit a roof.

Bianca Paterson's home was damaged by the Dairy Flat tornado.

Dally told Stuff FENZ had received 29 calls about the tornado.

He said the calls were mainly for roofs lifting, but said some industrial buildings in the area had sustained significant structural damage.

The Patersons mangled trampoline was found paddocks away after the Dairy Flat tornado.

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said it had received a couple of reports of a tornado in the area.

She said a thunderstorm had moved over the area and could have created the possibility of a short-lived, weak tornado.

Makgabutlane said there was also thunderstorm activity in Dairy Flat, north Auckland, overnight which had the potential to produce a tornado.

MetService had warned on Friday with severe thunderstorms there could be a risk of tornados with strong wind gusts.

Bianca Paterson said a tornado had swept through her property about 11.30pm on Friday, leaving a trail of destruction.

Paterson was walking down her hallway when she saw a 'massive light' before the power went out.

She said herself and her husband, Caleb, thought a plane was crashing before the family's trampoline smashed into the side of the house before it flew over it, damaging the roof as it went.

'Our commercial playground flew into pieces and was just gone,' Paterson said.

'It was insane … I've never heard something so loud and scary.'

On Friday, a tornado swept through the lower Northland east coast town of Mangawhai, with trees ripped up, iron torn off roofs and signposts sent flying.