Tornado lashes New Zealand; leaves a trail of destruction

Wellington, May 3: The fury of nature is still battering certain parts of the world, the recent episode being in New Zealand when a tornado struck Auckland on Tuesday. The tornado ripped New Zealand"s largest city and caused substantial damages to property. Two people have been killed and cars appeared to be flying and roofs being torn away.

The tornado first struck the northern suburb of Albany at about 3.15 pm with maximum damage causing to a shopping mall before moving south. A five kilometer trail of destruction was left behind.

The official figure from the Civil Defense officials puts the death toll to 2 with 14 others injured. Auckland Mayor Len Brown has been quoted as saying to Radio New Zealand, “We've got our fingers crossed that injuries are limited and that there are no further fatalities." New Zealand experiences close to 20 tornadoes a year that are comparatively less fatal.

News of tornadoes hitting US last week led to huge damages to life and property. 350 people were killed in the calamity and damages worth as $5 billion were incurred.

OneIndia News