Several tornadoes have struck different locations in the Taranaki region on the North Island’s western coast since Wednesday. Wednesday’s daytime tornado caused serious damage to a couple of structures in New Plymouth’s central business district.
A series of as many as six tornadoes which came ashore during disturbed weather conditions in the Tasman Sea last evening (Thursday) caused damage in Oakura, Egmont Village, Waitara, Stratford, Normanby, Opunake and Rahotu.
The most serious damage occurred in Oakura where 40 homes sustained damage, with many uninhabitable. An emergency centre was opened by Civil Defence at the Oakura Community Centre but few people went there as surrounding communities rallied and people were taken in by others in the district.
The Taranaki Regional Council’s weather recording station near Cape Egmont recorded wind speeds steadily building for some minutes before they peaked at 102 km/h at 5:40 p.m. Thursday July 5th, dropping just as quickly. Peak winds were recorded at stations at New Plymouth and Stratford at about 6 p.m.
The tornadoes damaged buildings and brought down trees, power and telephone lines, and some roads were briefly impassable. It is estimated that 4,000 consumers were without electricity overnight. Supplies were restored to North Taranaki this morning, but about 2600 premises in Oakura were still without power this morning and, with some supply lines still down, locals are warned to treat any downed line as live as restoration work continues.
A State of Emergency was declared in Taranaki last night, and continues in place this morning, as clean-up work continued. The National Crisis Co-ordination Centre was activated last night to provide support to the Taranaki Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group. The Co-ordination Centre remains activated this morning at Mode 1 (Monitoring).
At 9:45 this morning, residents were urged to conserve water due to power supply to water treatment plants at Kapuni, Okato and Rahoutu being out. The Kapuni plant services the towns of Hawera, Normanby, Okiawa and Ohawe and only has one day’s reserve. Roads which had been closed by fallen power lines and trees have now re-opened.
MetService have added a Severe Thunderstorm Watch tab to their forecast website. A warning for severe thunderstorms is in place for Northland (north of the Kaipara Harbour) and Great Barrier Island until 10 o’clock tonight. A low pressure system is expected to cross Auckland from the Tasman Sea this evening, and an associated weather front is expected to bring heavy rainfall and thunderstorms to Northland from late morning.
Storm warnings have been issued for areas off the Taranaki Coast and Cook Strait, and snow warnings are in place for South Canterbury (where snow is currently falling to 200m) and the lower and central North Island.
[sources: Taranaki Regional Council, CDEM Group and MetService.]