A tornado which “tore straight through” a South Taranaki house caused significant damage, blowing part of the roof almost 300 metres away.

Property owner John Louis Styger said that only his wife was home when it hit.

“At the time we were out at Rawhitiroa for a swim and when we got back to the car I had 14 missed calls on my phone so I rang back and was told FENZ was putting up a new temporary roof with tarpaulins,” he said.

“My wife was here and said it was unbelievable... it just tore straight through the place.

 “The weather was perfect when we left... we couldn’t believe it.”

Styger told the Herald more than half of the roof had been damaged by the tornado.

“About a third of the roof was ripped off the house and blown to the neighbour’s house 300 metres away and the rest was damaged,” he said.

Torrential rainfall struck moments after the tornado which had left the house with a lot of water damage, Styger said.

“We can see where it came through the hedge because it has flattened that right down.

“My brother lost a couple of hay sheds and some doors,” he said.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson confirmed they responded to the scene of a home that had been hit by a tornado in Eltham.

Fenz were called to the property at 2.45pm and remain in attendance.

There has been some damage to the roof of the single-story home, which a fire crew is helping to weatherproof.

An expert meteorologist from MetService said they had received reports of a tornado near Eltham, but had not yet heard of any damage.