Photo: Marika Khabazi / RNZ
Trees are down and there are widespread power outages after a tornado in Northland’s Mangawhai.
Videos posted to social media showed several trees down across roads, with emergency services working to clear them.
Northpower’s outage map showed three “widespread” outages covering Mangawhai, Mangawhai Heads and Langs Beach.
The power went out just before 3am Sunday.
“We have a widespread outage affecting all of our network due to a TORNADO damaging property and power lines in the wider Mangawhai Area,” Northpower’s website said.
“We are currently assessing the situation and will update the information when we can. Please treat all lines and equipment as LIVE at all times.”
Fire and Emergency said shortly 5.30am they had received 16 calls from locals.
It had sent “several” brigades into the area, where they found “roofs lifted from homes, fallen trees and downed powerlines”.
The affected regions included Mangawhau and Langs Beach.
It is not yet known how extensive the damage is, but one local reported that there were multiple houses on one street that had lost their roofs.
“People in the area should make safety their first priority and wait until daylight to assess damage to their property,” said response coordinator Graeme Quensell.
“They should treat all power lines as live, and please avoid driving in the area so as not to hold up emergency services.”
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