The tornado in Springvale. Photo: Amber Nyhon
A Central Otago community is in clean-up mode after a tornado tore through on Saturday night, causing extensive damage to some properties.
It ripped through rural Alexandra and Springvale just before 6.30pm.
Springvale resident Amber Nyhon was eating dinner with her family when thunder began booming overhead.
"It was pretty crazy, because behind us was full sunshine and then in front of us was just darkness and thunder, and then I started to see this cloud formation."
Against a dark sky, she said the white cloud formed a tunnel, getting longer and longer before touching down only two paddocks away, breaking apart a shed and spreading the debris.
She and her two daughters watched the tornado cruise down the valley and up the hill, ripping half the roof off a house.
"Seeing originally that caravan go up, I started to think 'Wow, okay, this is a bit of a reality of what's actually happening and how big this tornado actually is.'"
They were lucky the wind did not change direction or they would have been in the tornado's path, Nyhon said.
"By then I was starting to think… 'I should probably go inside and get my dogs and my kids inside.'
"But then I watched it take that roof and debris and rubbish up into some trees up over there, and it swirled all around and dumped it and then it just went back up into the sky."
While it was incredible to witness, she hoped to never be so close to a tornado again.
Central Otago District Councillor Tamah Alley said Springvale appeared to cop the brunt.
"There was probably about 30 minutes' worth of just continuous thunder, which is quite unusual for here to the point that we sort of had the kids outside, watching the sky."
And it left a mess in its wake.
"There was some pretty incredible looking footage and obviously some people have had some damage to houses and sheds and things, which is definitely not ideal for them the week before Christmas."
The community was already helping those impacted, she said.
"Our community's here are amazing, so I am aware that already the Golden Road Facebook page has got together and a lot of people with trades people friends and people who are living up that area were already chipping in and helping put tarpaulins over missing roofs and tidy up debris in paddocks, and checking on their neighbours, which is brilliant to see."
She recommended people check out the Get Ready website and make sure they were prepared for the unexpected.