Hundreds of homes in Thames were left without power this morning as wild weather and an unconfirmed tornado tore through the town around 9am.
The Thames Volunteer Fire Brigade was called out several times before 10am, responding to a roof torn off changing rooms at Danby Field.
PowerCo’s online outage map showed 572 properties were affected by an unplanned outage about 8am, but power was expected to be restored by noon.
NIWA reported 600 lightning strikes along and just offshore the Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty between 8:30am and 9:30am.
Metservice said a line of heavy rain and thunderstorms passed over the Coromandel Peninsula, with downpours around Whitianga.
“Thunderstorms are sparking over the Coromandel Peninsula with downpours of 35mm/h+ observed,” Metservice said.
Metservice had earlier issued a heavy rain watch from 8am until noon on May 15 for the Coromandel Peninsula, with periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms possible. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria in localised areas.
