A rare tornado hit Sydney on Wednesday with destructive winds above 200 km an hour (125 mph) and cricket ball-sized hail, bringing down trees and power lines, tearing off roofs, overturning vehicles and causing flash flooding. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued the rare tornado warning around midday as the dangerous storm swept up the coast from Sydney’s south, forcing some international and domestic flights to be diverted to other cities.
“There is obvious evidence that we have had a tornado go through Cronulla (a southern Sydney suburb) today,” meteorologist Alan Sharp told Sydney media.
There were no reports of major damage and only a handful of people were reported injured as the storm passed over Australia’s largest city.
A spokeswoman for Sydney International Airport said the airport had not closed but a handful of flights were diverted to different airports. The large hail damaged cars, smashed windows, and tore shop awnings and yacht sails to shreds. Some 6,000 homes were reportedly without power south of the city and rescue services received more than 200 calls for help in the city, according to media reports.
Social media was swamped by pictures of the huge, dark storm as it engulfed the harbour city, plunging a 25 degree Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) summer’s day into darkness.
Here’s what Twitterati posted of the tornado:
Feature image source: Twitter/@Hurshal