Freak storm lashes New South Wales, Australia

[senorpepr]

A freak summer storm which tore through north-eastern NSW yesterday cut power supplies, damaged roofs and ripped branches from trees, but was over as quickly as it started.

The hot, dry storm cell with winds of up to 122kph swept through the inland northwest of NSW around 4.30pm (AEDT) before disappearing out to sea, the State Emergency Service (SES) said.

^ "It was just a very sudden storm," SES spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said.

"It was just a cell that formed very quickly (and) because they form quickly, they don't last long."

She said the storm was typical of weather patterns for this time of year.

Ms Simpson said the storm, which was not predicted, brought down power lines, yanked branches from trees and cut power to parts of Armidale, in the state's north-west, until midnight.

The town of Singleton, northwest of Newcastle, was worst-hit, with over 40 emergency calls received, she said.

Roof damage was also reported from seven rural properties in the small community of Manilla, south-west of Armidale, she added.

"It was the wind that alarmed people more than anything," Ms Simpson said.

Residents said the swirling winds caused damage.

"The winds were very criss-crossy ... that's what did a lot of damage to the trees," Armidale resident Bill Browning said.

"They (the winds) were just those real swirling, rotating ones."

Mr Browning said the winds were reminiscent of a hail storm, except the hail never arrived.

The council began cleaning up strewn branches this morning, he added.

Meanwhile, three people in the area were struck by lightning within 20 minutes of one another.

One woman did not require ambulance assistance and two others were recovering in hospital, the NSW Ambulance Service said.

A Country Energy spokeswoman said the storm damage had only affected isolated pockets of power subscribers throughout the New England and Upper Hunter regions.

She said power had been restored to most customers, but a handful of customers in the Moree area were still without power.

"We hope to have them on very, very soon," she said.

The spokeswoman urged anyone affected by power cuts to contact Country Energy if they had not already done so on 13 20 80.

A spokesman for Insurance Australia Group said it was too early to put a dollar figure on the storm damage.