Tornadoes have been a double-blow for businesses trying to recover from the set-back of COVID-19.
There were extraordinary scenes around Auckland and Tauranga on Saturday as tornadoes ripped through anything and everything in their path.
In East Tamaki, an office and storefront were left exposed when the entire front of a building was peeled off.
Clynton Hartung was just setting up for the day at Elite Bathroomware on Allens Rd when the wind whipped up.
"Heard a massive roar, loud noise and then a crash, we looked up and the front of the building was in front of the showroom. It was very, very, very scary."
It tore off the front of the building and sent the debris flying 100m over the other side of the road.
The trail of destruction continued on Arwen Pl where Beverage Services had its roof torn off.
Owner Aaron Wyatt says the building is so seriously damaged it's likely to be condemned, another hit after lockdown.
"After all we've been through over the last few months this is just one more thing but we'll be alright, you know, what next? Bring it on."
Thankfully no-one was injured, but it was a lucky escape for the business behind, after an adjoining wall came down.
"Yesterday afternoon we made the decision to not work this weekend, thank goodness because they would have been crushed under that," said Kiely Snaddon from Pack Fresh.
"Had we been here and working it would have been absolutely devastating, it's like a warzone," said Pack Fresh owner Tony Cheetham.
All that was caused by what's considered a 'weak tornado'.
"On the enhanced Fujita scale we estimate it was between zero and one depending on the damage that we've seen. The scale goes up to five so those are actually still known as a weak tornado," said MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris.
