• Nine houses and buildings have been yellow stickered and 17 white stickered since a tornado ripped through Mangawhai in the early hours yesterday, and this number is expected to rise, Civil Defence says.
• About 200 homes are still without power, including 65 in Moir Point and 81 in the Old Waipu Rd area, where more than 20 power poles came down.
• The cordon on Moir St - Mangawhai’s main drag - has been lifted, but a cordon remains on Old Waipu Rd to allow crews to fix the power supply.
• Rapid response teams are doorknocking the worst affected areas this morning, but residents can also seek help from Kaipara District Council’s Mangawhai office at The Hub or by calling 0800 727 059 or 09 439 7059.

Nine homes and buildings have been yellow stickered, and 81 remain without power after a tornado seriously injured two people and damaged around 50 properties in the popular beach settlement of Mangawhai early yesterday morning.

A yellow sticker means there is moderate damage while a white sticker means there is light or no damage to a property.

A police cordon had also been lifted on the settlement’s main street, Moir St, but remained on Old Waipu Rd, Kaipara Civil Defence Emergency Management Local Controller John Burt said this morning.

“The cordon at Moir Street was lifted overnight, after Northpower restored services to most properties on the street.

“A cordon remains in place at Old Waipu Road, where Northpower crew continue to replace poles. Approximately 81 properties on Old Waipu Road remain without power, where more than twenty poles were toppled.”

Overall about 200 homes still don’t have power, including the 81 in the Old Waipu Rd area and 65 in Moir Point, lines company Northpower said this morning.

“While the aim is to restore power today, homes where there is damage running from the network to the property will take longer to get electricity.”

Residents clean up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Alex Burton

A generator had also been used to supply power to 63 homes in Kahu Drive.

Burt reminded people to treat all wires as live.

“We understand that people want to clean up and get back to normal life as quickly as possible, but until work is completed we need to treat all wires as live and allow Northpower to secure the area.

“The teams are working as hard as they can, and we expect to be able to move the cordon back to Kahu Drive late morning, with the cordon removed completely before the end of the day.”

Power is still out to around 200 homes in Mangawhai this morning, more than 30 hours after a tornado swept through the township north of Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton

Council building inspectors carried out building assessments yesterday and so far approximately 17 houses and buildings have been white stickered, and nine yellow, said Burt, the Civil Defence controller.

“This number is expected to rise once assessments have been completed along Moir Street and side streets.”

Affected residents should get in contact with their insurance providers first.

Rapid response teams including first responders and Civil Defence Emergency Management staff are going door to door this morning on Old Waipu Rd to do welfare checks and support residents with anything they need as part of the multi-agency response to the tornado, Burt said.

A badly-damaged home after a tornado struck Mangawhai, north of Auckland yesterday. Photo / Hayden Woodward

He would be among those knocking on doors, Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson said.

Daylight yesterday revealed the fury and destructive force of the early-morning tornado, with several homes in Old Waipu Rd left gutted and exposed to the elements.

Two homes had been “completely written off”, said Jepson, who lives in Mangawhai.

Kaipara District Council would also be removing tornado damaged green waste and items from berms in the most affected areas this week.

This fence and vehicle were among scores of cases of damage caused by a tornado that ripped through Mangawhai, north of Auckland, early yesterday. Photo / Alex Burton

The mayor also urged people who’d already removed debris to keep their waste disposal receipts because they’d be needed for their insurance claims.

The Mangawhai council office at The Hub would be open until 6pm today and was available for anyone wanting more information or welfare assistance.

People could also call the council on 0800 727 059 or 09 439 7059.

‘She’ll pull through’

The popular beach township 100km north of Auckland was struck by the tornado about 3am yesterday, with debris scattered across the community after roofs were ripped off, windows smashed and trees and power lines toppled.

One sleeping resident was thrown out of the second storey of her house, a neighbour to the property in ridge-top street Old Waipu Rd told the Herald.

“Apparently, the tornado just came through and ripped them across and she ended up on the roof of their carport.”

He knew one of the two people injured in the tornado, a woman in her 50s, Jepson said.

“She faces multiple surgeries, she’s got compound fractures. She’ll pull through but she’s got a journey ahead of her.”

Alan Johnson in front of his Old Waipu Road home. Photo / Peter de Graaf / RNZ

Eighty-one-year-old Alan Johnson told RNZ the injured woman was his daughter, who had staying in his “for sale” Old Waipu Rd home ahead of a planned open home yesterday.

The top floor of the home was gone, and every other room in the house had been damaged, he said.

His daughter had escaped after jumping down onto the carport.

She was later flown by helicopter to Auckland City Hospital, with the second injured person taken to North Shore Hospital.

His daughter was awaiting surgery after suffering lacerations and broken bones, Johnson told RNZ.

“I’m relieved my daughter is okay.”

‘This is not right’

Others were lucky to narrowly escape harm during the frightening weather event, including an Auckland couple whose motorhome was harpooned by a tree seconds after one of them moved to safety.

Dianne Hope-Ede and her partner, Paul, were among the many holidaymakers in the town for the Northland and Auckland Anniversary long weekend.

Paul was seconds away from being killed when the tree limbs plunged through their motorhome, ending up right where he’d been sleeping, Hope-Ede said.

The lightning, wind and thunder had woken Hope-Ede at 2am, before abruptly stopping.

“Ooh, I thought, it was over, but if I had been knowledgeable about tornadoes I would have realised that was the eye of it, and the rain and wind whipped up again really, really aggressively.”

The tree limb that pierced the motorhome owned by Dianne Hope-Ede and partner Paul.

Dianne Hope-Ede described the branches as being like pick-up sticks.

Hope-Ede told her partner “this is not right” and the pair got out of bed and headed for the door when they felt the motorhome shaking like an earthquake and heard a terrible roar.

“When it stopped shaking we went out and could see limbs of the tree had harpooned the back end of the motorhome where we had been sleeping, like pick-up sticks skewered from the top of the roof into where it would have killed Paul on his side of the bed,” she said.

Residents clean up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo / Alex Burton

Another tree limb crashed through the side of the motorhome, which was parked under tall trees at an Old Waipu Rd property.

The outside of the vehicle was covered with fallen trees, including a large uprooted tree with a 50-60cm diameter trunk, about 7m from the motorhome.

“If that had fallen in a different direction it would have killed us instantly. We were lucky, very lucky,” she said.

Aerial images reveal the extent of damage caused by the tornado in Mangawhai village. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Hope-Ede said her partner was a panel beater and made some repairs to allow the couple to drive carefully home to Northcote on Auckland’s North Shore.

“I just hope I don’t dream about it tonight. I want to put it behind me ... it was absolutely terrifying.”

Damage ‘pretty extensive’

So far no emergency housing had been required as affected residents were staying with friends and families, Jepson said.

There’d also been multiple offers of accommodation from other residents.

Residents cleaning up after a tornado swept through Mangawhai early yesterday morning. Photo / Alex Burton

Mangawhai was “full” during the storm, with its permanent population of 6000 residents expanded to about 10,000 for the long anniversary weekend in Auckland and Northland.

“It might take them a couple of days to get the Mangawhai village back up. That tells you that the damage is pretty extensive”, he said yesterday.

Power companies working in Moir St to restore electricity to Mangawhai village. Photo / Hayden Woodward

He’d been briefed on the tornado, Emergency Management Minister Simeon Brown said.

“My heart goes out to those affected, including those seriously injured.”

The storm also struck Waipu and Ruakākā, though Mangawhai appeared to be the worst-hit area.