UPDATED 6.30M: One death confirmed - Civil Defence corrects release | Harbour Bridge open to traffic | A tornado has hit Albany Mall, causing its evacuation and many injuries among those nearby. VIDEO and PHOTOS and EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT.
UPDATED 6.30pm: Civil Defence has corrected its earlier release and now says there is one confirmed fatality, not two as earlier reported.
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UPDATED 5.15pm: Two have been confirmed dead and 14 injured after a tornado swept through Albany Mega Centre this afternoon.
A statement from the Auckland Council Civil Defence and Emergency Mangement department confirmed the deaths and said the extreme weather event, which hit at approximately 3.15pm, had caused damage to the buildings, including the mall, in the popular shopping area.
The Auckland Civil Defence Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) has been activated to support emergency service operations and has started planning for accommodation if people require emergency accommodation.
Initial reports indicate significant damage to commercial properties in the area.
Emergency services are in attendance and there are reports of following casualties and fatalities:
· 2 fatalities
· 14 injured
The North-Western Motorway was closed initially but has since been re-opened. Evacuation of people from affected residential homes may be required but has not yet been requested by emergency services.
Auckland Civil Defence Controller Clive Manley said the effects of the tornado were being assessed and more information would be released as it came to hand.
“The full extent of the affected area includes Albany, Kaipatiki, Birkenhead and Glenfield although reports of significant damage and injury are limited to the Albany Mega Centre.
“It is important for people to stay calm and check on their neighbours,” he said.
Auckland Council’s Building Control Department has activated its emergency response plans and has deployed building inspectors to assess the damage.
No other weather warnings have been issued by the MetService at this time.
Scroll down for videos.
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UPDATED 5PM: One death has been confirmed after a tornado ripped through the North Auckland suburb of Albany this afternoon.
A North Shore Hospital spokesman said emergency services had confirmed one death and that the emergency department was preparing to receive 12 casualties. Most were expected to present with minor injuries.
Four to five other casualties were being sent to the emergency department of Watakere Hospital and two other injured people to Auckland Hospital.
Mr Sandy Irvine of Albany told NBR the tornado, which passed his house and others on its way to Albany Mall, moved his trailer boat about a metre and picked up tables and chairs.
He said the tornado lasted about 15 minutes, picking up his BBQ “like a piece of paper” and throwing it into the fence. “The wind was just fantastic, very scary.”
His house had largely survived the tornado, with mainly roof tiles taking the damage.
“We’re very lucky.”Others were not – his neighbours suffered entire sections of roofing being ripped off, with one woman saying to friends “I thought I was going to die, I thought, “This is it”.”
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UPDATED 4.50PM: Auckland Council external communications manager Glyn Walters said the council’s emergency co-ordination centre had just been activated.
“There’ll be a teleconference shortly bringing together all the emergency services, the lifeline services, which is essentially the telecommunications people, hospitals and the civil defence emergency team and at that point we will get a clearer picture of what has happened.”
Further information is expected in about an hour from now, after the teleconference.
When asked about the death reported at the Mega Centre, he said, “We hope to be able to confirm that shortly.”
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UPDATED 4.40PM: A spokeswoman for Westfield says the Albany centre has been evacuated and will remain so for the rest of the day. She said safety checks are being carried out and that the Albany Westfield mall is expected to open for business tomorrow.
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UPDATED 4.20pm: An eyewitness Albany's Servilles hair salon said a large section of roof had been torn off the middle part of the neighboring Placemakers building.
She said she saw big pieces of metal flying through the air as the tornado swept through the mall. She said there had been reports of a death at the site but these are unconfirmed by police.
Metservice said further thunderstorms are likely about eastern parts ofAuckland down to northern Waikato, Coromandel and western Bay of Plenty over
the next 4 hours.
Some of these thunderstorms could be severe and with a continued risk of oneor two damaging tornadoes.
After touching down in Albany, the tornado reportedly headed south to Birkenhead then to the Waitemata Harbour before heading west to Pt Chevalier.
Scroll down for video footage.
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UPDATED 4.05pm: Asked to comment on reports by some media of a fatality, Waitemata Police district communications manager Kevin Loughlin said “I can’t confirm anything at this stage.”
Reports that the Auckland Harbour bridge has been closed are not true. An NZTA spokesperson said they were on standby in the event it would need to be closed, but at this stage it looked like the tornado had passed by and the bridge would stay open.
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UPDATED 4PM: Foodstuffs has issued a statement confirming that a tornado has caused significant damage to the Albany Mall.
PAK'nSAVE Albany has suffered some damage to the roof, the extent of this damage is currently unconfirmed and the store has been evacuated. The firm was unable to advise whether any staff or customers have suffered injurie.
New World Albany is undamaged and there were no injuries to staff or customers at this store. New World Albany is currently closed.
Reports are flooding in that the roof of the mall has collapsed and cars have been picked up by the force of the tornado.
It's understood the tornado is moving south and the Harbour Bridge may be closed.
BELOW: am-cam footage of the tornado; photos via Twitter, YouTube and YFrog. Top video via Yfrog/Bruce Murray.
During May 1991, a tornado hit the small township of Albany, north of Auckland causing roofing iron to be lifted from homes and the destruction of a small church that was located on the south-western side of the village. No severe injuries occurred, but one man died when debris spread by the tornado collided with him while he was driving a bulldozer.
http://www.arc.govt.nz/council/civil-defence-emergency-management/natural-hazards/tornado.cfm
Site also gives stats of previous Auckland tornados and damage.
