Chunks of wood fly 100m after Mission Bay tree struck by lightning (PHOTOS)
Debris narrowly misses rush-hour traffic, bystanders. UPDATED
May 29: The 170-year-old tree has now been felled. See OneNews raw video here.
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May 28: A tree in Auckland's Mission Bay was struck by lightning around 7.45am this morning, sending chunks of wood flying up to 100m.
"I can’t believe nobody was killed," one witness told NBR ONLINE.
Shards of timber litter the area. Some left skid marks on the road as they landed. "It's a miracle nobody got hit," the witness adds.
NBR understands there were no injuries.
The Norfolk Pine is on the edge of Selwyn Domain, opposite the popular Fishpot Cafe.
Tamaki Drive - a busy rush-hour thoroughfare - was covered with debris. Much has now been cleared, but traffic into the city is crawling.
Auckland Council parks worker Ses Masters was standing beside the 2m-wide tree when it was struck.
"It cracked the tree open in a second," he told NBR. Branches flew everywhere."
NBR understands the tree will now have to be cut down.
A morning of wild weather has caused chaos around the country with winds ripping the roof off and blowing out windows of a Port Waikato home.
Up to 7cm of snow has fallen in Southland, central and south Otago, Milford and Queenstown.
In Dunedin, there are flight delays and school closures and roads north and south out of the city are shut.
Roads
Further north now has closed Wellington's Rimutaka Hill Rd.
Snow is also expected in the capital's hill suburbs such as Karori, Northland, and Johnsonville later today.
NBR staff
Wed, 29 May 2013
Wed, 29 May 2013
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Chunks of wood fly 100m after Mission Bay tree struck by lightning (PHOTOS)
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