The damage to forests was enormous, and although quite difficult to get an accurate assessment of the area of damage because there were pockets harder hit than others and to varying degrees, the best estimate by the Ministry for Primary Industries was about 40,000 hectares, excluding the national parks. Including the national parks, the figure would have been north 200,000 hectares. This involved some large mature trees being snapped off, tipped over, or stripped bare of leaves, causing the trees to die. 