Tornado rips through farms
A major clean-up job is underway on a group of Waikato farms after a tornado swept through their properties just after midday yesterday.
While no one was injured, it uprooted and damaged trees, destroyed sheds and caused minor damage to a handful of houses near Waitoa, around 40km north east of Hamilton.
Waikato President of Federated Farmers Andrew McGiven said he was standing in the living room of his house when it went through his farm. All of a sudden a big wind came came through. It picked up all of the outdoor furniture and then one of our big plate glass windows went.
‘‘The first I knew about it was when a big gust of wind got up and then the lawn furniture was going past the window. It’s done a bit of damage at my place.’’
The damage uprooted 15 trees on his farm and he was currently outside trying to repair the damage it did to his electric fence.
‘‘It looked like it touched down on the boundary where we are and looking at the path it took, it looked like it went straight to the house.’’ The wind was also strong enough to shift the large wooden beams used as a pagoda over his barbecue.
‘‘Just before the window went, I looked outside and they were coming off. It also moved my Kubota buggy a good 10 feet. It’s mostly just tree damage, the livestock are all right.’’
Wife Jenny described it as: ‘‘A wall of wind hitting the house.
‘‘The wind pushed all of the upstairs windows out, before smashing a large glass panel in the living room.’’
The wind damaged the McGiven’s barbecue area and flinging their outdoor furniture 250 metres into a nearby paddock. Jenny said the experience lasted 30 seconds to a minute. Sixteen year old son Hamish said it was raining lightly just before the tornado came, ‘‘and all of a sudden it just picked up.’’
Rosie, their dog was ‘‘beside herself’’ and their cats fled in fright.
They have towels on the living room floor trying to soak up the heavy rain coming inside from the broken window. He has also contacted his insurer and glazier to repair the broken window.
A neighbour, nine-year-old Corey Farac said when the tornado hit, a family member grabbed him and took him into the hallway. The wind damaged trees on their farm, and uprooted a tin shed full of gear used to ride horses, flinging these contents everywhere. Across the road, farmer Walter van Kuijk and lifestyle block owner Dwayne Stewart were clearing two enormous poplar trees that had tipped over from the tornado.
Van Kuijk said he was in his milking shed when he noticed the rain had started to fall in a different direction and noticed a spiral forming in the sky.
‘‘It was crazy, and it took out everything in its path.’’
He said he could see tree branches swirling about 200 metres above him in the wind. The force of the wind threw his neighbour’s trampoline into their front paddock.
‘‘It wasn’t like the tornadoes in America. It was a big column of branches and trees which just spiralled and spiralled around.’’ It went directly across the road, pulling trees away from their roots. Waitoa Coffee 26 owner Birgit Van Kuijk said she got a call from her cousin saying his farm had been hit by the tornado.
‘‘He lives up the road and called to let me know, because my cafe was in its path. ‘‘He was a bit worried it might destroy my cafe, but it’s made of a container so it’s pretty sturdy. ‘‘I didn’t see anything, but I closed up my shop early. My cousin Walter said it ripped through his whole farm.’’