Incredible footage shows the moment a tornado touched down in Christchurch, ripping a roof to pieces.
The violent tornado measured about three meters wide and hundreds of meters high.
"It was amazing," a witness told Newshub.
The tornado was captured on camera by those caught in the thick of it.
"It was almost like an earthquake," witness Mark Ealem told Newshub. "It was loud, it was rumbly.
Witness Ross Burrowes said he saw glass and dust flying about.
"You could hear it coming," he said. "It was just like a blimmin [sic] freight train."
The damage was mainly confined to the suburb of Sydenham. Second-hand clothing store Save Mart's roof collapsed in the storm, injuring two shoppers.
Nearby windows were also smashed, roofs were lifted and power lines brought down. Large branches from mature trees were littered across the inner-city suburb, and contractors were working to clear the way.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) crews closed one road after concerns asbestos could have been released in the air from a cracked roof.
"Once it's [asbestos] dried out and vehicles [are] driving over it's going to turn to a powder, so those fibres will be released," FENZ Spreydon station officer Rob Scott said.
"We don't want that, that's why we've closed the area off."
Meanwhile, one person is in a critical condition on Monday night and two others were injured in two separate crashes south of Christchurch, during the wild weather.
The freak storm left behind a trail of debris, injuries and stunning images of what the power of a tornado can do.
