Cyclone Gabrielle cuts through North Island forestry

Friday 17 Feb 2023

 
The sound of trees snapping “was like the loudest gunshots you’ve ever heard” as Cyclone Gabrielle ripped through central North Island forestry. Kasey Smith, who lives next door to the forest, witnessed the cyclone tearing through the trees.

“It was crazy. They were 15-30 year old pines just snapping. Like the loudest gunshots you’ve ever heard. It sounded like fireworks being let off and massive bangs, one after another. The sound of the wind was deafening.” The extent of the damage was devastating, Smith said.

“We couldn’t believe when the morning came and the whole forest was wiped out except one row along the fence line. It was like a match box had been thrown and all the matches fell out with the tops of trees scattered. The smell of the pine was incredible.”

Residents and pets in Motuoapa, northeast of Tūrangi, endured a scary night of cracking trees. John Mack said it sounded like a train as the wind cut a swathe through the forest. “It was more like a tornado than a than a cyclone the way it just cut through the trees.”

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Source: Stuff

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