Cleanup begins after tornado tears through Central Otago

The cleanup has begun and the reality is setting in after a tornado ripped through four homes just north of the Central Otago town of Alexandra.

Four fire trucks were called to the scene in Springvale following reports of structural damage in the area around 6.27pm, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson yesterday told 1News.

Luckily no one was hurt but locals managed to capture much of the action on camera.

Seventeen-year-olds Ryan McDowell and Hamish Payne were trapped inside as the loud, wild wind whipped through the house they were in.

"It would've been over in like thirty seconds, it was really quick," said Payne.

The two mates worked alongside other residents through the night to patch up the roof of a home which flew off during the incident - and today they surveyed their work.

Some of the car's windows in the driveway were ruined.

"She [the truck] got a smashed window, little damage to the canopy."

Inside, glass was shattered across most of the rooms.

The wind was so strong, some of it became stuck in the wall.

"There was water dripping down on the lights and then we had to remove the chimney to fix up the roof," McDowell said.

His father, David McDowell, couldn't believed what had happened.

"We thought the kids were having a bit of a laugh, doctored a picture and sent it to us because we were away for the night, but it seems it wasn't," he laughed.

A few hundred metres away, Ryan Hansford's home and garage were severely damaged.

His caravan was thrown across the property from its original spot next to the driveway, his truck bonnet was crushed and his in-laws' tiny home on the site is now unrecognisable.

A Givealittle page has been set up to help them start again after they lost everything.

"We had the dogs in the house, the kids' sheep and the guinea pigs were right next to the house, they haven't moved," he said.

A pile of debris has been built up over the past 24 hours since the twister struck, with locals, friends and family chipping in to collect all sorts from neighbouring paddocks.

But there's a big cleanup job ahead.

Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray told 1News this kind of event in Central Otago is "quite unusual".

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Roofs lifted from homes after tornado hits Central Otago

Four fire trucks were called to the scene in Springvale following reports of structural damage in the area around 6.27pm.

New Zealand

December 17, 2022

"Most of our tornadoes come when we get thunderstorms from the west, but we do get these sort of heat from the day in the summertime," she said.

"If we do get them, they tend to be in the Canterbury Plains."