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Auckland NZ - Tornado?

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Lily
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Auckland NZ - Tornado?

Post by Lily »

Tornado is being reported (but not yet confirmed) in NZ today, 3 fatalities.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/we ... 2awz8.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Three people are dead, at least seven are injured and others have been reported missing after what's been described as a tornado ripped through Auckland today.

The local fire service said two of the victims died when a concrete slab landed on a truck in the suburb of Hobsonville, in the city’s northwest.

I’ve never been in weather like that before

It’s understood the deaths occurred at a building site where a new high school is being constructed. There are also reports of people trapped in buildings.

While the local weather bureau is yet to officially confirm the storm as a tornado, numerous local residents and media are reporting it as such.

A shaken construction worker Sam Nuthall, who was working at the high school site, said he and his workmates were forced to shelter between a block wall and a truck.

‘‘You couldn’t see it coming ... there was debris flying everywhere, steel getting thrown around,’’ he told Radio New Zealand.

‘‘I’ve never been in weather like that before.’’

An ambulance spokeswoman said five crews were attending to different scenes.

A witness said the roof had been ripped from at least one house, and a tree had smashed through the kitchen of a house nearby.

Trees were uprooted, a trampoline flipped and fences crushed by the force.

Brendan Muir, who is working at Hobsonville Point, said he was sitting in a ute when the tornado hit.

"It was just mayhem. I had to put my seat belt on, I thought it was going to flip."

Muir said around him he could see trees "that looked like a plane had crashed into them", walls and fences knocked down and Portaloos scattered about.

He said for about 10 minutes there were so many sirens sounding it "seemed like 9/11".

Frances Schuster said the tornado only lasted 12 seconds but was terrifying.

"It went blurry for a while, it just happened so fast. It was really loud and the windows were shaking."

Part of a roof fell onto her car.

There has been an unconfirmed report that a woman lost her house in the tornado.

Conditions right for tornado

New Zealand MetService spokesman Daniel Corbett said the organisation had not confirmed there had been a tornado but conditions were right for small tornados to develop.

"Looking at the radar, we're seeing a line of thunderstorms," he said.

"It's certainly possible and over the next couple of hours converging winds within the front could allow the potential for these small things to happen," Corbett said.

There was also a risk of heavy downpours, strong winds, and hail.

Earlier MetService said a cluster of active thunderstorms had approached southwest Northland this morning, and were forecast to move on to western parts of Auckland and Waikato.

stuff.co.nz



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/we ... z2EF2CEV5L" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Onetahuti
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Re: Auckland NZ - Tornado?

Post by Onetahuti »

Photos courtesy of New Zealand Herald.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image ... 3#10245268" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Report

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10852407" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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