Sydney tornado: Clean-up underway in Kurnell after 'unprecedented' storm delivers 213kph winds

Updated

Authorities say it is very fortunate no-one was seriously injured in a tornado that tore along Sydney's southern coast, ripping off roofs and leaving some residents with "nothing".

Key points: Tornado, 213kph winds, golf ball-sized hail and localised heavy rainfall cause damage in Sydney

More than 500 calls for help

Westfield Bondi Junction roof collapsed and flooding

Storm knocked out power to thousands of homes north of Wollongong

BOM says severe storms moving away from Sydney in a north-easterley direction

The Bureau of Meteorology said the destructive winds hit at about 10:30am (AEDT) on Wednesday, measuring up to 213 kilometres per hour, while some areas were pelted with golf ball-sized hail stones.

New South Wales Fire and Rescue Superintendent Ian Krimmer said the weather event had been "unprecedented".

Forecaster Michael Logan said the wind speeds recorded were "up there" with the fastest ever registered in the Sydney area.

"We don't get situations like that without it being a tornado," he said.

"It is what's called a super cell thunderstorm and they're one of the most dangerous thunderstorms we get."

Kurnell resident Beverley Bultitude was at home when the tornado hit and said it developed suddenly.

"Outside, it was as black as anything," she told the ABC.

Now it's time for the clean up now but you just don't know where to start. Beverley Bultitude, Kurnell resident

"All of a sudden there was a bit of wind and then it hit and when it hit, it hit hard.

"Everything was just spinning, spinning around ... it was like shrapnel, that's the only way I could describe it."

She said she was inside her home at the time as the tornado "roared".

"You've got on the roof bang, bang, bang, you've got windowing banging, trees all over the place," she said.

"The noise is all around and you're waiting for every window to come in.

"It's time for the clean-up now but you just don't know where to start."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Kurnell homeowners describe damage from powerful storm (ABC News)

Sue Pritchard from the State Emergency Service said its efforts are now focused on the clean-up.

"We have 50 teams in the field at the moment that are responding to these requests for assistance, I'll be having teams working through the night as people come home to find that there's been damage done to their properties," Ms Pritchard said.

Residents returning to damaged or destroyed homes that were built before 1987 have been warned about the potential for asbestos to be present.

Superintendent Michael O'Toole advised residents to check with the local emergency services if it is safe to re-enter the property and take care not to disturb the debris.

"If you intend on entering, I would recommend wearing a P2 mask and protective clothing as a precaution," Superintendent O'Toole said in a statement.

A statement released by the weather bureau at 7:05pm (AEDT) said severe thunderstorms were moving towards the mid-north coast, central west and northern parts of the state.

The storms are likely to bring destructive winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding to Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Tamworth, Moree and Lightning Ridge.

Earlier, Phil Campbell from the SES at Kurnell told 702 ABC Sydney emergency crews and residents were assessing the damage, while some were taking cover in the evacuation centre at a nearby RFS station.

"One lady said she had nothing left," Mr Campbell said.

"She was just sitting there resolutely in a blanket saying her house had been completely destroyed."

He said there could be up to 25 homes with significant damage so far in the area.

"We're seeing homes that are completely unroofed, others with very significant structural damage," Mr Campbell said.

"There's a lot of insulation and other debris scattered right across parts of the peninsula.

"We've got many, many powerlines down."

The SES received more than 500 calls for help and police said residents of Kurnell were able to return home, but the suburb was left without power and sewerage.

Inspector Winston Pisani said it was lucky no-one was seriously injured.

"We are very fortunate no-one was hurt or seriously injured given the amount of damage we now see," he said.

Julia, who did not give her last name, hid in a boardroom while the storm passed.

"I looked outside and everything was like in a whirlwind, all the rubbish bins everything, when I saw the rubbish bins there we took two steps back and the roof started caving in, so we got under the table in the boardroom and all the windows all smashed in," she said.

"It was the most terrifying experience of my life."

One 702 ABC Sydney talkback caller, Troy, said Kurnell was "just a mess".

"My neighbour's roof is gone, the trees are all down in the front yard and I've lost my outdoor area out the back," he said.

"There's trees down out the front of his house which have landed in my front yard."

On the south coast there were a number of flood rescues in the Nowra area.

Photos on social media have shown the damage caused by the morning's storm including a truck that was knocked over in Kurnell.

The desalination plant in the same suburb was also damaged during the storm.

The chief executive of the damaged desalination plant at Kurnell, Keith Davies, said staff were assessing the damage.

"The tornado, as the Bureau of Meteorology described it, went through our plant and left some damage in its wake," Mr Davies said.

"Structural damage as you'd expect with a very high wind - some infrastructure knocked over. Luckily none of the workers on site were harmed."

NSW Police said the Public Order and Riot Squad assisted local police at Kurnell.

The storm has also caused a partial collapse of the roof and flooding at Bondi Junction's Westfield shopping centre in Sydney's east, closing parts of the third floor.

The tower that houses the cinema and David Jones were also closed.

Shopper Louis Miles said portions of the shopping centre had been closed off and people had been evacuated.

"Occasionally there's announcements coming over and sirens going off," he said.

"They've cleared people out of one of the wings on the upstairs level.

"They've evacuated the cinemas upstairs and I can see about half a dozen glass panels in the ceiling beginning to crack and quite a lot of water coming through the top."

Mr Miles said the stores in the centre of the shopping centre were the most affected, with water dripping down from the roof.

'Mayhem' at Sydney airport

A caller to 702 ABC Sydney said he had seen "mayhem" at Sydney airport when he had dropped someone off about 11:00am.

"Because of all the traffic delays there at the moment everyone is getting out of their cars within a kilometre or so of the airport and just wheeling their luggage towards the airport to make their flights," the caller said.

"I'm just really fearful for these people because they are out there in the open."

ABC weather presenter Graham Creed described the storm as a "phenomenal" weather system.

He said there were "amazing wind gusts" as the tornado crossed the coast.

"Fortunately, I suppose, [it missed] the areas further south around Cronulla, although they had very large and damaging hail fall across that region as the storm cell moved to the north," he said.

"With the wind speeds registered ... it would be a tornado that's moved through that area.

"It definitely looked like it on the radar as well.

"There was a definite hook cloud in the thunderstorm."

Flooding in Shoalhaven region, SES out in force

Incident controller Ashley Sullivan, from the Illawarra South Coast SES, said her team was called out to help several people trapped in a house in the Shoalhaven region, on the state's south coast, due to flash flooding.

When the SES arrived the house was surrounded by floodwaters and they assisted the people in getting out of the property.

The SES has received more than 40 callouts in the region.

Thirty-nine people were evacuated from a chemist on the New South Wales south coast, after its roof collapsed.

The ceiling of the building at South Nowra caved in just before 10:30am, after heavy rain fell in the area.

No-one was injured.

The storm earlier knocked out power to about 6,000 homes north of Wollongong in suburbs including Bulli, Thirroul and Woonona.

An Endeavour Energy spokeswoman said power had now been restored to most of the affected homes.

Topics: storm-event, weather, sydney-2000, australia, nsw, wollongong-2500

First posted