Shoppers are likely to pay more for their locally grown leafy greens in the coming months after a tornado and hail in the Horowhenua district destroyed crops destined for local shops. Locals describe a mini tornado hitting early this morning, ripping trees up, roofs off and sending debris including a whole garage flying. A corridor of hail of about one kilometre wide ran through paddocks and destroyed cabbage, silverbeet, celery and spinach. According to an article on stuff.co.nz, lettuce, broccoli and radish crops were less affected.
The MetService has stated that, over a period of six hours this morning, there was about 12,000 lightning strikes around the country. Some growers say the hail was as deep as 15 centimetres, destroying fields of crops and covered seedlings, which will likely cause ongoing supply issues.