Tornado lifts roof off Pembroke Hall | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

It blew in at 12.45pm last Wednesday, left surprising damage in its wake and shocked onlookers.

The tornado that ripped through Pembroke School Hall was unexpected, brief and destructive, but thankfully missed the school and its students who were outside at lunch when it hit.

Principal of the school, Caroline Beissel, didn't immediately identify the tornado and initially thought a car had crashed into the hall.

"Most of the kids were outside having lunch. I heard a huge bang and instructed the students to get under the sun shelter on the far side of the school. They were great and did exactly as they were told. One staff member went to call emergency services, I went to see what was going on and a third teacher waited with the children. When I went to the road all I could see was debris flying in the air. Roofing iron and sheeting that had been ripped off the hall was scattered all down Monmouth Road and in neighbouring paddocks."

Sections of the roof had been completely ripped off and windows had been broken. Emergency services responded quickly to the situation and firefighters put tarpaulins over the roof as temporary shelter.

The school hall had recently been renovated and there was concern that all the effort that had been put in was now destroyed.

"It was a brand new roof. Thankfully, the interior was mostly intact. There was a lot of dust lying around but the majority of the room had been left untouched," said Caroline.

Student Mitchell Best was playing when the tornado hit and was witness to what it did to the hall.

"I heard a big explosion and was kind of scared but not very much. I saw stuff whirling through the air so I ran for shelter. Once it was over, there was stuff everywhere. You could see the damage it had done. I think almost 80% of the roof was gone on one side."

Repairs to the hall began on Thursday and were finished by Friday, leaving no evidence that a random burst of weather had even touched the building.

Firefighters worked to clear the debris and cover the holes left in the roof after a tornado swept through the Pembroke School Hall.