Elizabeth Meaclem, of Awatuna Sunset Lodge, managed to video the seconds before a waterspout from offshore hit land, making a bee-line directly for the living room of their home facing the sea.
Luckily sand dunes veered it off-course and through the backyard, where it threw around outdoor furniture, took down trees and fencing and ripped the roof off a pump shed.
Mrs Meaclem said it all happened very quickly after her grandson alerted her to a ''weird cloud'’ moving in from the sea.
''I said 'that's no cloud, that's a waterspout — we've got a tornado coming straight at us'.
And it did. As it hit the sand dunes it turned.
It came across the yard and picked up everything that was loose.
"It's munted the veggie (garden), the grapevine the peaches, apples ..."
The funnel of the tornado was about 4m in circumference, and was travelling quickly, she said.
They had been bracing for it to hit the house.
''If it had've hit the house every window would have shattered, because it's sea-facing. The sand dunes saved us.
''I've always said we're lucky to have Waimea Creek between us and the ocean because it gives us an extra layer of protection, and I think this is a very good example."
Residents from elevated Blue Spur properties also captured the water spout moving in to land around noon.
- Janna Sherman
