A suspected twister has ripped through central Otago, destroying a boat and throwing trampolines between properties.
Cromwell local Jade McLellan says a huge surge of wind picked up their 12 metre boat from its trailer around 11am and hurled it across their property.
Jade was at home at the time and looked out the window to see the vessel flying through the air.
"Mum was yelling out at everyone to get down, I walked through the lounge and I could see through the sliding the door - [our] boat was up in the air flipping," she says.
"I hopped down behind the couch before I saw it hit the ground."
The wind gust was "huge", Jade says, and followed a morning of stormy weather.
"I was actually in the bathroom at the time and I thought something was going to hit the side of the house," she says.
"Really quite a scary noise, I've been in Christchurch for the earthquakes and it quite resembles that noise."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the house, Jade's mother Sue was watching her trampoline fly over to the neighbours' property.
"I was at one window watching a trampoline that was in mid-air, thinking it was going to come through our window," she says.
"I didn't know the boat was going over and over, because it was just so noisy with the wind that you couldn't hear anything else."
The boat is now written off and the family are working to move it back to its trailer.
Sue is certain the wind gust was a twister, saying the contents of her backyard were obviously circling in the wind.
The pair say the twister lasted for around 20 to 30 seconds, and left houses in the area mostly intact.
3 News
source: newshub archive
