Several people were injured and houses were destroyed on Thursday as a violent storm swept through a coastal town, ripping the roofs off homes and devastating a caravan park, officials said.
The storm, which struck the northern New South Wales state town of Lennox Head, was a rotating thunderstorm known as a supercell, said a meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology.
A waterspout formed underneath the storm and moved onto the land and across several houses, causing considerable damage, the meteorologist said. The State Emergency Service said about a dozen homes lost their roofs and several others had smashed windows and other damage. New South Wales police said a number of people were injured, and asked residents to stay away from the area as it was cluttered with loose debris and power lines were lying across roads. Officials have set up an evacuation centre to help the victims of the storm.
The New South Wales Emergency Services Minister said wind and hail destroyed a dozen houses, and approximately two thousand homes were without power.
Australian costal town devastated by cyclone
06:52 GMT 03.06.2010 (Updated: 19:51 GMT 19.10.2022)
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Several people were injured and houses were destroyed on Thursday as a violent storm swept through a coastal town, ripping the roofs off homes and devastating a caravan park, officials said.