NZ tornado damage
© Caleb PatersonTornado caused widespread damage in Dairy Flat overnight.
A tornado has hit south Auckland, causing major structural damage to industrial buildings in East Tamaki.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Craig Dally said ten fire trucks were sent to the area to assess damage.

Roofs have also been ripped off houses in the area.

There are no reports of any injuries.

This morning's tornado comes after some residents were terrified overnight.

Wind and rain caused flooding, lifted roofs and uprooted trees across Auckland.

The fierce winds led Dairy Flat residents in the city's north to take to Facebook with reports of a tornado ripping through the area.


"That must have been a tornado. It sounded incredibly loud as it rushed past our place," one Facebook user wrote.

"One minute I thought the house was going to blow in from the south side, and a few seconds later I thought the north side was going to blow in. Freaky," another said.

Another resident who had lived in the US Mid-West agreed: "That's what they usually sound like."

A resident from Pine Valley said it was the "loudest thing I ever heard" as their home was "hit full-on".

"Our fences got shredded, my car's been bashed in, the walls of our garage are gone, we have multiple big trees down on our drive and we can't leave.

"Our power lines are on the road along with the pole, and lines got ripped off our house."

"I love a storm but that was *** terrifying," another resident wrote.


Residents also reported seeing the flashing lights and hearing chainsaws as fire crews swept in to clean up the mess.

Fire and Emergency NZ's Craig Dally said crews raced about the city responding to 24 calls for help in north and west Auckland from about 10pm last night.

Silverdale and Dairy Flat in north-west Auckland were hit first.

Then the heavy winds moved to Te Atatu, West Auckland and Waimauku.

"There was flooding, roofs lifting and trees and power lines down," Dally said.

However, officials hadn't recorded the winds as a tornado.

"There was no mention of a tornado, just wild weather," Dally said.

He said fire crews had also visited a home on Larissa Ave in Henderson where the garage had flooded.

The weather had calmed now, however, Dally said.

Weather forecaster MetService, however, warned the gloomy weather would likely stick around all day.

Auckland could expect heavy rain and possible thunder at times through to tonight along with a high of 18C.

Sunday should then clear to fine spells and isolated showers with a top of 16C.

Northland and Whangarei, Tauranga and Hamilton and Rotorua in the south could all expect to be affected by the same weather system with heavy rain and thunder possible all day Saturday.

Further south Wellington could expect milder winter weather with a few showers and cloudy top of 16C.

Christchurch in the South Island was set for a cloudy weekend and top of 13C today.

Invercargill in the far south, meanwhile, was set for a mostly fine day heading for a top of 10C with Queenstown expecting clouds, but no rain, and a high of 11C.