Tornado tears through NZ's largest city - two dead

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A tornado tore through New Zealand's largest city Auckland on Tuesday, killing two people, sending cars flying through the air and ripping roofs off buildings.



Tornado @ Wichita

 The tornado struck the northern suburb of Albany at about 3.15 p.m. with damage centred on a shopping mall before it moved south, leaving a five-km (three-miles) trail of destruction.
Civil defence officials put the death toll at two, with 14 injured.
"We've got our fingers crossed that injuries are limited and


Auckland

that there are no further fatalities," Auckland Mayor Len Brown told Radio New Zealand.

Tornadoes swept across the southern U.S. states last week, killing more than 350 people and causing as much as $5 billion of damage.


Auckland hit by tornado on Tuesday


New Zealand experiences about 20 tornadoes a year, but most are relatively small and fatalities rare.

The worst tornado in New Zealand struck the city of Hamilton in 1948, killing three people, injuring 80 and destroying nearly 200 buildings. In 2004, a tornado struck a small town in the coastal Taranaki region on the North Island, killing two people.