A severe thunderstorm caused damage at Hutt City New World and the Commonsense Organics next door in Lower Hutt on 12 December, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Lower Hutt is piecing itself back together a month on from a mini-tornado that ripped through the city.
It was part of a powerful storm that moved up the country and brought hail, heavy rain and strong winds.
The Lower Hutt city centre suffered the worst of the storm, with broken windows, tree debris and metal roof panels strewn across roads around the area.
Mayor Campbell Barry said luckily the damage was "in a pretty contained area".
"The mini-tornado came through at around where our council building actually is on Laings Road, for those who know the area. W actually had a council meeting at the time," he told Morning Report on Monday.
"It went in through to the Queensgate Mall, pass there to around the police station area, and that's where most of the damage happened in the line of its of its path.
"We were really lucky that it was contained. All of the commercial buildings that were impacted at the time have now mostly been fixed up. I know there's still a few small repairs to go, and some of the homes that were impacted are still working through their insurance companies just to get the fix done.
"But everyone's back into their homes, which is really important."
Barry praised local tradies for being on-call over the Christmas period to help out when required.
Mayor Campbell Barry. Photo: RNZ / Meriana Jonsen
"So most of the fix has now been done and we're really lucky that it was in such a contained area. We obviously had a number of trees go down and damage to parks and the like, and that's all being cleaned up as well."
Windows of a New World supermarket the day after it was damaged during the Lower Hutt storm on Tuesday 12 December 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
There were only a "very small number of people who weren't able to enter their homes" after the tornado, Barry said.
"They had good family wraparound support. I was down onsite talking with some of the family of one particular resident who was impacted, and they really got things sorted themselves, but we were there to support if needed - but in this case, we weren't."
"And of course, you know, family, you know, come to the party and friends and support as well."
