A clean-up is still underway after a freak tornado ripped through Christchurch's Sydenham suburb.
The storm, which hit on Monday, has closed one street for most of the day as authorities worked to remove asbestos riddled waste.
Michael Choi, owner of DJ Auto, told Newshub he was there when the Christchurch earthquake hit and believed the tornado was worse than the earthquake.
"The roof contaminated with asbestos was blown into the air and across to neighbouring buildings and onto the road," said Choi.
Another local, Kerin Pratt, a commercial flooring specialist owner, told Newshub he got his own asbestos removal team to come in on Monday night and remove all the asbestos in front of his property.
"This morning the streets are still littered with asbestos and it's windy and there's no one doing anything about it," Pratt told Newshub.
On Monday Newshub was told it would take a couple of hours to clean up.
More than 24 hours on, contractors are beginning to clear the inner-city street of asbestos-contaminated debris.
Asbestos is toxic for human health, however, authorities said loose debris, if kept wet isn't a concern.
"They had air testing equipment out to test how much asbestos was actually floating around in the air.
"That came in well below any kind of risk about a quarter of the level of which they would normally have any concerns," said Dr Alistair Humphrey, Canterbury Medical Officer of Health.
Restrictions remain in place with further testing results due in the morning.
