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Locals say it was 'amazing' no-one was injured in Saturday's storm, which felled trees and street signs, tore off roofs, and left two homes uninhabitable.
A tornado has left homes severely damaged and uninhabitable in Ulladulla. The SES has responded to most jobs. A tornado that ripped through the CBD of Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast on Saturday has left homes uninhabitable and severe damage in its wake.
The State Emergency Service said the tornado, which reached a wind-gust front of 98 kilometres per hour about 1pm, impacted 15 properties. More than half a dozen were severely damaged and two of them deemed uninhabitable, the residents forced to relocate to the homes of friends and family. The NSW State Emergency Service responded to 34 reports of damage in Ulladulla.
"We've had quite a number of homes where walls are gone or the roof has peeled off or tiles are on the other side of the road," she said. Street signs were also torn out of the ground and uprooted trees and falling branches fell on cars.
"Even the couple of trees that came down on cars, the people who were in the cars managed to get out. " lady was across the road buying fish and chips and she watched a tree come down on her car. She was so thankful that she wasn't in it.
""I've been here since 2003, and I think for a lot of people who live locally, this is definitely a first," she said. "One fellow had a small tinny on a trailer at the front of his house, it flipped the tinny off the trailer, lifted the trailer and knocked it into his car.
"The service received 34 calls for help within Ulladulla, with most jobs finalised by Sunday afternoon after crews from as far as Yass were called in as back-up. The town also received 24 millimetres of rain between 9am on Saturday and 9am on Sunday. SES crews worked across Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to repair damage to several homes and businesses.
Brad Collins was driving in town with his father when he saw the storm unfold and captured a video on his smart phone as the clouds formed into a vortex.
"There was stuff flying in the air … then it was all over. " He described it as "surreal" and "crazy", later driving past several homes with roofs torn off and one car crushed by a tree. showed heavy rain and strong winds sweep through violently, sending umbrellas flying into the harbour. The Bureau of Meteorology said the tornado was classified as "sub-severe" but was a unique event.
"For the coast of New South Wales, it's quite unusual to see tornadoes like that," meteorologist Tristan Sumarna said. SES volunteers from the Ulladulla unit and across the state responded to the damage. Ms Provest praised the local clean-up effort, saying Shoalhaven Council and NSW Police assisted with the roads as well as traffic direction, while multiple volunteers pitched in.
"A couple were directly impacted, and other had businesses impacted, and they've all been out helping anyway," she said. A 2-hour drive north, in Wollongong, the Yours and Owls Festival at Flagstaff Hill was briefly paused when the storm rolled in on Saturday evening. Victoria Schuck was in the crowd and said despite the interruption, they made the most of it, holding a sing-a-long under the tents before the show went on. ABC Illawarra — local news in your inbox
Ses Damage Clean-Up Roofs Off Storm
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