A tornado swept through Mangawhai, Northland, causing widespread power outages, uprooted trees, and significant property damage, with some homes losing their roofs.
Emergency services responded to 16 calls starting around 3 am.
Two people were seriously injured, one airlifted to Auckland Hospital and another taken to North Shore Hospital.
Fire crews, aided by a specialist drone team, worked to clear debris and assess damage.
Northpower reported extensive outages in Mangawhai, Mangawhai Heads, and Langs Beach, urging residents to treat all power lines as live.
Radar imagery at 2:52am this morning shows a hook echo type signature from a thunderstorm cluster around Mangawhai on both the Northland and Auckland radars. This would support reports of a tornado touch down in the area which caused property and tree damage around that time. pic.twitter.com/qBE97Eifwj
— Hauraki Gulf Weather (@HaurakiGulfWx) January 25, 2025
Kia kaha Mangawhai – don’t rely on government to help clean up…