AWESTRUCK: Long-time local resident Max Lamond was amazed by the extent of the devastation.
MAX Lamond has lived in the district all his life and has never seen anything like yesterday’s destruction.
“I’ve lived in and around Terara for 70 years, we’ve had storms before and plenty of floods over the years but never anything like this,” he said.
“This is just amazing. The devastation is incredible. Thankfully no one was injured.
“We’ve lost a few things and there are a number of trees down everywhere but this could have been so much worse.
“It is devastating for a lot of the residents, especially the older ones, who have built up wonderful gardens over the years and many of them have just been blown away.
“It’s going to take a lot of work to clean up.”
It was a similar story told by Toby Witheridge, who has lived at Terara for 72 years.
“I have never seen anything like this,” he said.
“It was just amazing – the winds were big and then all of a sudden there was a really huge gust and then it all just went quiet.”
It wasn’t until first light that the real scale of the destruction became clear.
“It doesn’t look like it’s been that particularly wide, it’s only about 100 yards or so wide,” Mr Witheridge said.
Endeavour Energy employee Steve Hicks was among the crews out trying to restore power to the area.
“We have had crews out since 4.30 this morning and we have restored what power we can but there is a lot of damage across the area.
“It’s a massive job.”