A MINI cyclone that hit the Hunter on Sunday afternoon caused more damage as it moved further north with the SES receiving close to 300 calls for assistance along the Mid North Coast.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The aftermath of the cyclone resulted in a short, but severe storm with wind speeds up to 100 km/h which hit the Great Lakes at around 3pm and lasted for about 30 minutes.
NSW SES community engagement coordinator for the Mid North Coast, Steven Lawrence said 284 calls were received with 78 of those coming from the Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest area and 14 from the Forster-Tuncurry area. There were also 85 calls for assistance from the Manning Valley, mainly for fallen trees on driveways and roofs.
“The storm severely hit the Hunter region and then made its way further north,” Mr Lawrence told the Great Lakes Advocate on Monday.
“Our focus today (Monday) is on the Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and Karuah Valleys areas as they received quite a lot of damage – we had 78 calls for assistance there.
“Dungog in particular has been hit quite badly.
“Damaging winds, up to 100km/h hit some parts of the Mid North Coast. There wasn’t a lot of rain, rain totals were quite small but the winds really packed a punch.”
Mr Lawrence said local crews as well as those who had been called in from Kempsey had worked from Sunday afternoon well into Monday afternoon across the Manning and Great Lakes.
A residential property off the Pacific Highway near Nabiac had 13 trees fall over its driveway on Sunday afternoon.
SES crews as well as Great Lakes Council workers were at the scene on Monday, working to re-open the road, Mr Lawrence said.
The Advocate is also aware of several businesses in Forster that had windows blasted out as a result of damaging wind gusts.
Mr Lawrence said the businesses had not reported the incidents to the SES.
“It hasn’t been reported nor have I seen or heard any reports like that,” Mr Lawrence said.
“So that makes us think that the shop owners may have done some temporary repairs themselves or sought other assistance.
“This is quite helpful for us as we can’t always be everywhere.”
The SES is reminding residents to be prepared for sudden, severe storms. Visit www.stormsafe.com.au for more information.
