A Matamata boy has lived to tell the tale after being sucked into a tornado.
- Matamata mini-tornado sucks schoolboy into the air
- Incredible footage captures tornado in north Taranaki
As 13-year-old George Jeffrey left Matamata Intermediate School, he felt the wind picking him up.
"I was just walking out of school with my friend Luke, and we get to the end of the street and we feel leaves hitting our ankles," he told The Project.
His friend dived to safety while George rose into the air. He was dropped onto a nearby pathway, where he suffered grazes down the left side of his body.
"I thought it was fun, until I saw that I was going to hit the concrete - and then I started screaming."
He said the next day kids at school made fun of him, calling him 'tornado boy'.
George's sister Rita was at hockey training when she saw the twister rush past.
"It pulled stuff off some houses and we watched it go past and thought it was pretty cool - turns out George was in it," she said.
The mini-tornado caused further damage down the road, blowing in sheds and throwing around playhouses.
Even concrete power poles weren't safe, with one snapped in half like a twig.
Newshub.
