New Plymouth has been struck by a tornado that left a trail of destruction in its wake.
MetService issued a severe storm warning for the region on Monday morning with the possibility of tornadoes.
There are unconfirmed reports of the iron being torn from roofs in the city, as well as a possible injury.
Police have confirmed that an "object" hit a car on State Highway 3 at about 9.30am. There were no injuries from the incident.
Powerlines are currently down on Pohutukawa Place.
Footage taken at the scene shows the signature funnel shape of a tornado rapidly making its way across the sky.
The Eftpos system at Bell Block's Paraite Cafe is down, which staff suspect is due to the storm. A delivery driver told Newshub he'd seen power lines on the ground on Egmont Rd opposite the golf course.
A spokesperson said radar showed a "hook echo" cloud forming near New Plymouth, a telltale sign of an oncoming tornado.
"I'm not surprised [about the damage], the signature was there," they told Newshub.
New Plymouth local John Bamford was having breakfast this morning when the tornado hit.
"I saw it come straight through my windows," he told Newshub. "It annihilated my lounge. Took all the windows out, took tables and threw them up in the air. It annihilated trees that were 40 odd years old. Just a mess everywhere."
His wife was injured in the tornado, suffering a broken collarbone along with other minor injuries. She was treated by ambulance paramedics at the property.
Bamford says he's seen tornadoes before but they've never come close to the house, which is not liveable in its current damaged state.
"The windows are blown out, the ceiling's down. It pulled the fridge out of the wall," he says. "She came with a hell of a bang."
His property was the only one seriously damaged in the storm, although the roof was torn off his neighbour's hay shed.
Newshub.
