[Source: 1News/TVNZ]

Properties have been damaged and roads flooded as a storm front crossed the lower North Island on Thursday afternoon.

It comes as people on social media reported a tornado passed through Waikanae, north of Wellington just before 1pm.

Fire and Emergency NZ received multiple calls about the tornado, saying at least five houses in Paraparaumu and six houses in Waikanae were damaged.
The damage includes lifted roofs and doors blown in.

A dozen cars were damaged by falling trees, while a person suffered non-serious injuries when their car was hit.

A mechanics in Waikanae, ACS Limited, had a large tree smash through their roof as the storm whipped through. A big cleanup their is currently underway.

In Wellington, power outages were experienced in the Lambton and Parliamentary districts.

People on Twitter said lightning was seen in the CBD, Northern suburbs, Upper Hutt and Island Bay.

Wellington Electricity said there’s only one reported power outage in the region, in Upper Hutt.

Initially 950 customers were affected and so far electricity has been restored to around 500.

Transpower told 1News that due to the lightning strike in the last hour there was a momentary loss of power supply for about 15 seconds, but power was quickly restored in the region.

Surface flooding has also been reported in Central Wellington, Plimmerton and on the Kapiti Coast.

Earlier on Thursday morning a vehicle was trapped in flooding that hit Hutt Valley.

The trapped car is just one of a number of reports in relation to flooding in the Hutt Valley, a spokesperson for the local council said.