PUT A RING ON IT

The phone call that changed a young netball star’s career P20

bringing with it thunderstorms, localised heavy rain of up to 25-millimetres an hour and strong winds gusting 80 to 100kmh with the risk of tornadoes.

Downpours could cause surface or flash flooding, especially around low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips.

MetService said winds could gust to 90kmh or 100kmh thunderstorms last night in Northland, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty, and rainfall intensity could reach 30mm an hour during thunderstorms in Bay of Plenty overnight. Peak rainfall of up to 30mm an hour was also possible with thunderstorms forecast for last night and this morning in Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay.

Other areas at risk of the heaviest rain included southern Wairarapa for 24 hours from late this morning, and Kaiko¯ ura from early today until tomorrow evening.

Father-of-one Ryan Lein was last night fearing for the safety of his wife and child after the twister hit his family home on Omana Road, destroying the roof, and leaving him scrambling to protect his home from flooding with plastic coverings and tubs.

‘‘I was sat in my front room and suddenly the weather got way worse and things started flying everywhere,’’ Lein described, saying he could hear loud cracks and bangs coming from the roof, before tiles started falling into his home, leaving tiles in the kitchen and bedroom.

‘‘We were lucky that our 6-month-old baby woke earlier than normal this morning, as giant shards of glass and tiles fell into the cot.

‘‘Now our roof is leaking.’’ Manurewa resident Janet Thomas was checking her children’s sports cancellations online when she saw her outdoor chairs went flying and the ranchslider started shaking.

‘‘There was a big bang and our fence had fallen and all our stuff went flying,’’ Thomas said.

‘‘It was over so fast.’’