Tuesday, May 03, 2011

New Zealand's hit by tornado

A tornado affects a largest city of New Zealand's city on Tuesday, at least one person was killed and 20 injured, a hospital official said. The swirling dark air and cloud cut a 3-mile path across the Auckland suburb of Albany at mid afternoon, flattening trees and tossing vehicles around. There are probably six or seven seriously damaged cars, and some of them saw cars flying off the ground about 30 meters in the air.

The tornado first touched down in Albany and then passed through neighboring Birkenhead. Most of the serious damage was in Albany, where a shopping mall, a large hardware store and a supermarket were hit. Radio New Zealand reported that the roof of the Mega Center mall in Albany collapsed. Tornadoes are not uncommon in New Zealand, particularly on the country's North Island, where Auckland lies. But they tend to be smaller than those seen in the U.S. Midwest. Auckland generally gets one or two tornadoes a year, according to New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management. New Zealand has been hit by several disasters in recent months, including a Feb. 22 earthquake that devastated the South Island city of Christchurch and killed at least 169 people.