Henderson hit by tornado

Press, 9 August 1988, Page 9

Henderson hit by tornado

PA Auckland - A twisting mass of rain gave a West Auckland man only a few seconds warning of a tornado which crumpled his garage around him yesterday. Mr John Peat, aged 34, only had time to duck for cover beside a freezer after seeing the whirlwind approaching the garage at his Henderson home. It struck just before 2 p.m., ripping a 3km southeasterly path through suburban Henderson and leaving damaged roofs, smashed garages and fences and fallen trees. Mr Peat said of his ordeal: “I just got down and hoped like hell. The whole thing folded up

quite nicely. I felt something hit me, I don’t know what it was, and then it was all over.” Mr Peat emerged with a cut ear to find only the back wall of the four-car garage still upright. The bulky freezer saved him from further injury by stopping the fall of several rafters. Next door the tornado had deposited a garage in the garden after hurling it 20m from Powell Place. . The garage owner, Mrs Aisla Deverick, said she watched in amazement as the winds plucked the garage from the ground and lifted it 10m. “It really unnerved me, and I thought the house could go next,” she said.