An owner of a Waikanae mechanic's is relieved a tree thrown through the roof of his business narrowly avoided his prized Ferrari race car.
ACS Limited's Tim O'Connor said he looked at the sky and thought there was a big hailstorm coming.
"But it wasn't a hailstorm, it was trees and things," O'Connor joked.
Waikanae was one of the areas worst affected. (Source: 1News)
"We had an enormous shuddering of the building. It almost felt like the Kaikōura [earthquake] again.
"Everyone ran out the back and we found trees through roofs, damage to our cars on the other side, just chaos really."
READ MORE: Reports of tornado as storm smashes lower North Island
One tree fell through a roof and narrowly missed a Ferrari. Other race cars in the building also escaped damage.
O'Connor felt relieved.
"It's great [there was no damage], we don't want anything like that happening to it."
He said no one knew what was causing it, before later finding out it was a suspected tornado.
Meanwhile, two people have described the "terrifying" moment the possible tornado whipped across their Paraparaumu home, causing parts of the concrete tile roof to fall through the ceiling.
The pair rushed out of the house as tiles began falling through the ceiling. (Source: 1News)
Fire and Emergency NZ received multiple calls about the tornado, saying at least five houses in Paraparaumu and six houses in Waikanae were damaged. The damage includes lifted roofs and doors blown in.
Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka and Katherine Raue were in their home when they heard an "almighty bang".
"I thought the house might have been struck by lightning but it turns out it was a tornado," Raue said.
"The concrete tiles were falling down and hitting the ceiling. Holes began appearing in the ceiling and plaster was falling all over us so we thought we'd better get out of here.
"It was absolutely terrifying, we're still in shock about it really."
Firefighters have closed off the home due to the damage, leaving the pair waiting on Housing NZ to find them accommodation for the night.
"We have no idea where we're going to go," Raue said.
Elsewhere, a dozen cars were damaged by falling trees, while a person suffered non-serious injuries when their car was hit.
People on Twitter said lightning was seen in the CBD, Northern suburbs, Upper Hutt and Island Bay.
Surface flooding has also been reported in Central Wellington, Plimmerton and on the Kapiti Coast.
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