Tornado hits Ulladulla just after one pm

A tornado tore through Ulladulla on the NSW south coast on Saturday. Just after one pm, the region was issued with a severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall.

Bureau confirms very unusual event

The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed a tornado did move through the area, describing the event as very unusual. Vision shows the rotating column of air making its way across a residential area.

“very unusual”

Cafe owner Julius Machado describes chaos

Cafe owner Julius Machado told the ABC the sky darkened and everything changed in a blink of an eye. A big wind swept away everything, forcing customers to rush inside. He has run the cafe for close to seven years.

“Just a big wind came through and it just swept away everything”

Thirty seconds of destruction

Machado said nothing in Ulladulla compared to this event. The tornado lasted just a couple of minutes. In thirty seconds, it swept over everything, uplifting boats chained to the harbour and throwing them onto the car park.

“In the 30 seconds, just swept over everything.”

Cafe destroyed, cleanup begins

The cafe had to close early to clean up. All glasses and plates were broken. Machado described it as just a mess, big mess. Staff had scrambled to remove tables and chairs before the winds sent umbrellas flying into the harbour.

“was just a mess, big mess”

SES responds to ninety calls across NSW

The NSW State Emergency Service received more than ninety calls for assistance across the state, including twenty nine around Ulladulla. Crews are responding to roofs ripped from homes, dislodged tiles and skylights, fallen trees and powerlines. Dozens of properties have power outages. The SES expects calls to increase as severe thunderstorms continue into the evening.