Tornado rips through Waikanae, NewZealand

A tornado ripped through the town of Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast this afternoon.
Locals say it was a terrifying few moments as the whirlwind tossed cars and trees about.
One man is understood to be injured after his van was blown over.
Inspector Paul Jermy said the tornado swept across the main highway just north of Waikanae about 4pm.
One member of the public told ONE News it looks like the tornado had taken out several cars and destroyed some buildings.
Some cars have smashed windshields and some have landed in a ditch.
They said there seems to be a visible tornado path which looks to have passed over State Highway One.
The fire service told ONE News several people were left trapped when a tree blew into a house. All have been freed however one person received minor injures.
Winds have also lifted the roof from a house and blown debris onto the highway, blocking traffic.
Emergency services attended a large number of callouts in the region.
The tornado came as 20 severe weather warnings were issued by Metservice throughout the country as a prolonged storm continues to lash New Zealand.

MetService detected severe thunderstorms offshore from Manawatu, moving south east towards Levin, Foxton and Waitarere.
They says further thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected in parts of the country tonight.
The wild weather will hit the West Coast tonight and tomorrow and in the North Island be experienced north of about Paraparaumu to Taranaki and near the Manawatu Gorge through to the Tararua District, spreading as far north as Waikato early tomorrow morning.
Some of the thunderstorms could be particularly severe north of Harihari in Westland through to daybreak tomorrow, with wind gusts of more than 110 kilometres an hour.
More hail is likely, with stones to the size of marbles.
Small hail could accumulate on some roads overnight, making conditions icy.

Woman knocked down
A Kapiti Coast woman has been taken to hospital after reportedly being knocked over by the wild weather.
Local Kapiti resident Laurie Petherick was out taking photographs of the storm and mini waterspouts, when he saw his elderly neighbour all of a sudden knocked to the ground.
He says she was knocked out and there was a pool of blood around her head, but came to smiling, not knowing where she was.
She has been taken to Wellington Hospital.

Hail storm hits
ONE News has had several reports of a major hailstorm hitting near Paraparaumu around 3pm.
One residents told ONE News that it lasted for about ten minutes and forced cars to pull over and hide under trees.
In Auckland gusty westerlies brought down a tree onto a car in Papakura and flipped an advertising billboard trailer on the Harbour Bridge.

From: tvnz.co.nz/national-news/tornado

Info is free, spread it!