Ohope Top 10 holiday park building 'blown apart' in tornado

A building at the Ohope Top 10 Holiday Park in Whakatane suffered serious damage as a tornado struck on Monday evening.

Ohope Beach Top 10 Holiday park manager Mark Inman said a building at the camp had been "completely blown apart" by the rapidly rotating column of air.

There were no people in the building at the time the tornado swept through, which he estimated was about 20 metres wide.

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Mr Inman said campers were all accounted for, but it was difficult to check the site because it was so dark.

"We need to wait until the morning to ascertain the extent of the damage," he said.

Mr Inman said several houses in the vicinity of the campground have also been damaged.

A separate tornado also damaged several houses in 300km away in New Plymouth, tearing up fences, smashing windows and ripping off a roof.

Police said while a number of properties had been reported damaged, it was too early to confirm exactly how many and there had been no reported injuries.

New Plymouth has seen heavy rain and strong winds for much of the day.

MetService meteorologist Tom Bell says Taranaki is a high-risk thunderstorm area and there could be more this evening.

Newshub.

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