Tornado Hits Rural NSW And Rips Homes To Pieces

A tornado has bizarrely appeared in rural New South Wales and has done some serious damage to properties.

Three people were injured yesterday (September 30) when the strange weather event formed in the state's Central West.

Anything that was in the tornado's way was also ripped to pieces, including homes and trees.

David Hagney said his property was damaged when the tornado hit at Clear Creek, telling the ABC: "It just all went grey and there was limbs flying through the air, and it just basically hit us...it was so fast.

"There were tree branches, tin, iron, things flying everywhere.

"If this was a giant it was like he just grabbed hold of the trees, screwed them up and threw them on the ground. We just stood in amazement waiting for it to stop. The good thing is we are OK."

The Bureau of Meteorology said there was roughly 25 to 30 kilometres of damage done from the tornado before it dissipated.

Agata Imielska, BOM manager for NSW and ACT, admits that tornados in Australia are pretty rare, especially in this part of the country.

"We generally need to see damage that's associated with them and observe the actual tornado, that really aids in being able to say yes, we've definitely, actually seen a tornado," she said.

"There are other types of really localised systems, like a microburst. These, like tornadoes, tend to be associated with severe thunderstorms and conditions that we see."

The tornado came as a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for parts of NSW, including the Central West and all the way east to Sydney.

Tornado

The storm even produced 2cm-size hailstones in Sydney's Castle Hill and Pennant Hills. BOM has warned that there could be more thunderstorms today (October 1).

Of the three people to be injured in the tornado, one man suffered an injury to his arm after the tornado hit near his property in Meadow Flat, near Lithgow.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Meah Ferguson said the patient was lucky to be alive.

"It's not every day you get called out to a tornado and this one packed quite a punch," she said. "When we arrived on scene we found extensive damage to the patient's dwelling and surrounding areas."

In Clear Creek, a man suffered cuts to his face and a woman copped neck and back injuries.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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