‘Things just flying around in a circle’ as tornado strikes Paeroa

A tornado has ripped through Paeroa taking out power lines, fences, and lifting roofs.

It travelled through the Paeroa RV Centre, and its caretaker said the tornado “came right through the camp and out the front gate” and took out all the fences on the way.

He said no one was injured, but Fire and Emergency was on site at the Coronation St park in the north of the town.

Hundreds of homes are without power, PowerCo said, and the company has called in back-up from the Coromandel.

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Rebekah Warren, estimations manager at Professional Trades Services, about 50m down the road from the RV centre, said the tornado left as suddenly as it arrived.

Staff were in a meeting room at the construction company when they felt the air pressure suddenly build, making their ears pop. Winds quickly picked up leaves, paper and other light debris.

“We looked out the window, and it was things just flying around in a circle.”

Warren had not seen a tornado in the area before and, while staff weren’t concerned for their safety at the time, it was unnerving not knowing if a bigger weather event might follow.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Warren said the RV centre lost roofing iron and spouting and their company had workers out helping tidy up a couple of instances of damage, including a fence destroyed by the tornado further down Coronation St.

Firefighters were called to help with a roof lifting in Paeroa at 1.58pm on Wednesday, a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said.

One truck was at the scene.

And a second roof-lifting took crews to Hauraki’s Netherton at 2.19pm. One fire truck was there, the spokesperson said.

Hauraki District Council posted on social media:

“Batten down the hatches and take care out there. We’re hearing reports of wild winds in Paeroa, power outtages in Ngatea and a tree blocking some of the road in the Karangahake Gorge – no official confirmation of a road closure at this stage. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know anything.”

Powerco customers in areas near Ngātea, Kerepehi, Paeroa were being urged to stay well clear of downed or low power lines after reports of the tornado.

“To stay safe, it’s important if people come across downed or low power lines, they keep well clear and call

“We’ve had multiple emergency jobs come through since just after 1.45pm, including reports of lines down,” head of network operations Caz Haydon said.

“Our crews will work to make repairs once it is safe to do so. While our contracted field crews have a depot in Paeroa, the high winds have caused some damage to the building as well as some of the work vehicles.

“For this reason, we’ve called in back-up from Coromandel to support the crews currently on the ground.

A total of 595 Paeroa customers lost power at 1.46pm, while 947 Ngatea and Kerepehi customers lost supply a minute later at 1.47pm.

People should contact Powerco’s emergency line on 0800 27 27 27 if low or downed lines were spotted.