West Coast man Sam Wanrooy was caught in the weather chaos yesterday -- right in the heart of it to be exact.
He was working at a gold claim in Ross when a tornado came ripping towards him. He managed to capture it on camera as it engulfed him.
"[It] did some damage to our work vehicles and took out a lot of trees around where we were working."
A tornado in the distance near Ross township (Sam Wanrooy)
State Highway 6 from Murchison to Inangahua is down to one lane due to fallen trees and the Haast Pass is completely closed.
Trees, branches and surface water are being cleared through the Lewis Pass this morning.
On Arthur's Pass, minor rockfalls around the Rock Shelter and Rocky Point are being cleared by crews. Several slips are also being cleared on SH6 between Greymouth and Westport. There is a slip at 10 Mile, due to be cleared this morning, and the road is a single lane until then.
The coast will have some relief today as the front responsible for the weather has moved north, MetService meteorologist Ciaran Doolin says.
However, another front is approaching the South Island, and combined with a southwest flow means more fierce weather is coming.
There is a thunderstorm risk again today for Westland and Buller, bringing heavy rain and strong winds of up to 100km/h. West Coasters should also be prepared for hail and the possibility of small tornadoes, however Mr Doolin says these will mostly be offshore and people shouldn't be too concerned.
The thunderstorm risk is easing this evening but heavy rain and wind will still batter parts of the coast. There was 170mm of rainfall over the Westland ranges overnight, with another 70 to 100mm expected today.
Newshub.
