Wild storms sweep over Sydney’s Northern Beaches, leaving one person dead and two critically injured
- Replies 2
Extreme weather conditions that lasted around five minutes lashed Sydney’s Northern Beaches about 3:30 pm on Sunday.
Police have confirmed that one woman, believed to be in her 70s, was killed, while two other women, one in her 70s and another in her late teens, were critically injured by fallen trees and other debris; they were brought to the hospital for treatment.
Pictures show how the chaotic storm tore many homes apart. Photos from MatrixPictures.com.au.
Winds were reported to have peaked at 80km/h. Horrifying footage even showed a 'mini tornado' ripping through the city, resulting in one Sydney apartment building having its roof ripped off and carried away.
Meanwhile, emergency services received hundreds of calls from as many as 25,000 affected locals with no resources or power late into Sunday night.
The worst of the damage was seen around Narrabeen, Dee Why, and Mona Vale.
Several videos surfaced online showing how the vicious rains smashed Dee Why, tearing trees to shreds and blowing parked cars around on the street.
Trees can even be seen snapping and breaking; some were even ripped from their roots entirely and were lifted from the ground.
Locals reported that several trees could be seen thrashing back and forth during the storm. Others even recalled massive trees being uprooted from the ground.
Trees can be seen thrashing back and forth in the clip posted to Reddit before the roof of a Northern Beaches unit block rips off and is carried away by cyclonic winds.
Other pictures from the Northern Beaches show massive trees uprooted and stripped of leaves, laid bare across roads and destroyed vehicles.
One local reported hearing screams after a large tree fell and trapped several people inside a car.
Police reports confirmed that an elderly woman had died in Royal North Shore as a result of the storm. Two other people remain in critical condition.
“As you can imagine, the patients had multiple injuries after being hit by falling branches and other debris,” said Inspector Christie Marks, stating that the injured women were simply ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’.
“We worked to treat them at the scene and get them to the hospital for further care,” he added.
“Given the size of this tree, it's remarkable that there weren't more people injured.”
Scattered debris and uprooted trees laid bare across roads and destroyed vehicles. Left photo from Matrixpictures.com.au, right photo from Channel 9.
NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland has confirmed that power is still out for thousands of affected homes.
“We are trying to get power back to those areas, generators have been put on the major intersections of roads but we are asking drivers to take time and be patient with each other today,” he said.
Locals reported that power lines across their street are ‘pretty much destroyed’.
Severe thunderstorm alerts remain for large parts of Sydney, Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong and Bathurst.
Weather experts predict that the storm winds will continue, warning people not to enter dangerous areas.
On Sunday, temperatures peaked at 35.8 degrees.
Mackellar MP Jason Falinski assessed the damage caused by the ‘mini tornado’.
“There appears to have been a mini-tornado, centred on the Northern Beaches. We are waiting to find out more but there seem to be some very serious injuries and damage,” wrote the MP on Twitter.
“Emergency services and Ausgrid are rapidly responding across the LGA, with widespread power outages from Curl Curl to Palm Beach.”
“Our hearts go out to those negatively impacted, and we will do everything we can to ensure the recovery is swift and full.”
Mr Falinski added that he has reached out to the federal government for assistance.
.png){kind=icon}
