An uplifting story

 Just after finishing the morning milking in September 1990, Manukau dairy farmer Laurie Coe drove off on his four-wheel bike to see what was worrying his cows, who refused to leave the milking shed. Unable to see the approaching tornado because of heavy rain, he was suddenly thrown into a fence, then lifted into the sky. He was carried 100 metres before being slammed down into another paddock. He suffered only a stiff neck, sore back and a few minor bruises.In August 2004 a tornado swept across Taranaki uprooting trees and destroying a house near Waitara. Two of the occupants were killed. The worst tornado in New Zealand history struck Frankton and Hamilton in 1948. Almost 150 houses were wrecked, three people were killed and dozens injured. However, New Zealand tornadoes are neither as common nor as destructive as those that occur over the plains of the United States, where in 1974 over 300 people were killed and over 6,000 were injured.