Garden shed tossed into rest home

A mini tornado tossed a garden shed around the courtyard of a Taranaki rest home, damaging several buildings.

Nobody was injured but at least one resident of the villas at the Maryann village in Stratford got a fright when debris from the broken shed landed on her roof sometime after 8am yesterday, AgeCare Central chief executive Neil Volzke, who is also Stratford District Mayor, said.

‘‘A mini tornado picked up the neighbour’s garden shed and lifted it across the fence, then threw it against one of the chalets and made quite a significant hole in the wall there; then it blew through the village and part of the shed has been thrown against a conservatory, breaking the window.’’

Some of the debris landed on the roofs of nearby chalets. ‘‘It has put a couple of decent dents in the roof of one; it must have been moving with some force.’’

The damage occurred during a morning of thunder, lightning and heavy rain, as a winter storm crosses New Zealand.

The Stratford district had so far escaped serious issues with the storm, apart from some homes losing power, Volzke said.

‘‘So far I haven’t heard of any significant damage in our district, but we will be monitoring the weather throughout the day.’’

Schools closed early to allow staff and students to get home before the high winds forecast for later in the afternoon and into the evening arrived.