A tornado have flipped a caravan injuring one person at a motor camp at Lake Dudding in rural Manawatū. Photo: Supplied / Rangitikei District Council
A man who was flipped twice in his caravan during a tornado that hit a rural Rangitīkei campground is going to be "traumatised for a little bit".
Emergency services rushed to the campground in Dudding Lake on Wednesday after a tornado ripped through it at 12.36pm.
A fire truck was sent to the scene alongside ambulance staff who assessed four patients.
The campground's caretaker, Lance Phillips, told Morning Report the man, Bill, was having a coffee with him just minutes before returning to his caravan and the tornado ripping through.
The weather was "quite fine" until it came over "really black" and a rumbling sound began, Phillips said.
"There was just this rumble ... you could hear it before it hit. Then all hell broke loose," he said.
"There was just this rumble, I suppose you could call it a rumble, you could hear it before it hit and then all hell broke loose. It's really hard to describe, it's just something out of the blue, it just hit. Like I said, all hell broke loose, chaos struck."
Phillips said he was called by another camper who told him there was some damage in the campground and he was "dumbfounded" at the destruction that had occurred when he managed to get down there.
Trees fell from the tornado. Photo: Supplied / Rangitikei District Council
He said Bill was sitting in his caravan at the time the tornado hit, causing the vehicle to flip twice. Bill crawled out a window, dazed, before being taken to hospital.
Phillips said he was back at the campground now but had not had any sleep.
"He's going to be traumatised for a little bit and I don't blame him.
Phillips said he was "coming right" and he had a lot of support around him, but it would play on his mind for some time.
The weather was still "pretty gusty" but nothing like yesterday.
"I can handle this wind," he said, "I couldn't handle that tornado".
The rain radar as of 6am Thursday morning. Photo: Supplied / Metservice
Households without power following wild weather
Hundreds of households across the North Island are still without power after wild weather lashed the North Island.
Powerco's website is listing more than 240 unplanned outages, mostly in Waikato and Manawatū-Whanganui.
At least 32 of the properties lost power because of a lightning strike.
A much more settled day of weather today for most of us. However, still a windy one up the east coast this morning. https://t.co/4ELbMjDO7A
— MetService NZ (@MetService) December 3, 2025
MetService says the wettest areas included parts of Tai Rāwhiti, including Wharerata which has seen 57 millimetres of rain fall over the past 12 hours.
Rain is continuing to fall in Gisborne which has seen downpours of almost 40mm.
Strong gusts have also jolted exposed parts of Northland, Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Waiarapa and Wellington.
The NZ Transport Agency said the Auckland Harbour Bridge would stay in four lanes each direction instead of the usual morning peak configuration of five lanes southbound due to strong winds.
SH1 AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE - WIND - 6:30AM, THU 4 DEC
— NZ Transport Agency - Auckland & Northland (@nztaaklnth) December 3, 2025
The Auckland Harbour Bridge will stay in four lanes each direction this morning, rather than the usual morning peak configuration of five lanes southbound, due to strong winds. ^KF pic.twitter.com/xt3AtSlE00
Winds of 142 kilometres an hour have been felt at Cape Turnagin.
"Many parts of Northland copped winds of over 100km/h," MetService said.
A strong wind watch for Wairarapa is due to expire at 8am, while the watch for eastern areas of the Tararua District and Hawke's Bay is expected to continue until 1pm.
More than 13,000 lightning strikes and 2 centimetre hailstones were recorded on Wednesday as torrential downpours swept the North Island.
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