Papamoa residents are today praising the efforts of firefighters who clambered on rain slicked roof tiles repairing damage from a mini tornado that ripped through the Bay of Plenty beachside suburb last night.

Wild weather struck houses in Longview Drive at about 8.15pm tearing tiles off houses, lifting trampolines in the air and sending pieces of wood flying through resident's windows.

Jo Knell outside her Papamoa home after a mini tornado ripped through the suburb last night. Watch the video in which Papamoa resident Ray Anderson tells how his daughter was almost hit by a 4x2 piece of wood smashed through his home window during wild weather in Papamoa.

Most of the damage was done to houses between 120 – 144 Longview Drive with the worst of the damage at Jo and Rick Knell's home at 120, where a large part of the roof was lost.

'And it's my birthday,” says Jo surveying the damage today.

'It was like a little twister.”

Jo was sitting in the lounge when she heard a sudden gust of wind strike her brick and tile home.

'It felt like the whole side of the house was going to come in - as if it was going to come through.”

The weather bomb ripped through the suburb in seconds in what Jo says was a 'spooky” experience.

Jo and Rick's television aerial was ripped from the roof, taking roof tiles with it and leaving a large hole in the outer roofing, which was covered with a tarpaulin by firefighters.

The wind ripped through from east to west through the Knell's property tearing the deck umbrella from its base plate, and smashing down fences and shrubbery.

The For Sale sign outside the Knell's house was demolished, sending a 400mm long piece of 4x2 wood downwind across the street and through a window at Joy and Ray Anderson's home.

'It went straight through the window,” says Joy today. 'It just missed my daughter who had been making a cup of tea.”

Fire fighters from Papamoa, Mount Maunganui and were called to the suburb at about 8.30pm where fire crews worked to cover exposed roofs with tarpaulins.

About five or six houses on the west side of the street suffered roof damage, most of which were repaired in the dark by fire fighters.

Damage to Joy and Ray Anderson's home after a mini tornado ripped through the suburb last night.

Firefighters work to cover the roof with a tarpaulin.

The mini tornado ripped a tree from the ground in Longview Drive.

A piece of wood came flying through the Anderson's window.