'Flying trampolines' as tornado sighted sweeping through Waitara, Taranaki

May 17, 2021

Trampolines have been sent flying in the north Taranaki town of Waitara this afternoon after a tornado reportedly swept through the area.

Fire and Emergency NZ reported to Taranaki Civil Defence and Emergency Management that a tornado passed through Waitara just before 2pm.

"There has been some minor damage to buildings and a few trampolines flying around. The Waitara fire crew is on the ground dealing with the situation," Taranaki Civil Defence stated on its Facebook page.

An updated post says, "The initial reports were of slight damage to commercial property on West Quay in Waitara and this is being managed on site."

People who live in the area have been commenting on the post, stating high winds suddenly whipped up, with some saying it felt like "the start of a tornado".

There are more potentially damaging winds on the way for parts of Taranaki.

Footage taken by 1 NEWS shows part of a roof ripped off a Waitara engineering business.

Fire and Emergency NZ workers are at the scene assessing the damage.

1 NEWS meteorologist Dan Corbett says there is some "pretty frightful weather" over Taranaki today, which will move east over the North Island into tomorrow morning.

Corbett says more damaging winds could be in store for the region, but they are likely to be "straight line winds", meaning they likely won't result in a tornado.

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