Coffs Harbour has been declared a disaster zone after a severe hailstorm and damaging winds tore through the Coffs Harbour area on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, to the point of causing the roof of a shopping centre at Toormina to collapse – sparking evacuations and causing widespread damage.
According to ABC News, the freak hailstorm hit the Coffs region around 2 pm with massive hailstones and ferocious winds, and just after 7 pm, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) cancelled the weather warning for the area.
9 News confirms that The NSW Minister for Emergency Services has decided to sign off on a disaster declaration for the Coffs Harbour LGA, on the NSW North Coast.
NSW SES advised that the hailstorm caused “extensive damage” to homes across the region. Coffs Harbour SES Unit Commander Martin Wells said that the damage caused by the storm is “five times as bad” as the tornado that hit Armidale last week.
NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Dean Storey advised that the number of calls for help caused by the storm was expected to keep climbing.
“The vast majority of the requests we have received have been for damaged and leaking roofs,” Mr. Storey revealed.
“The storm also caused massive damage to the Toormina Shopping Centre, and damage to a number of nursing homes in the area.”
Shocked residents shared videos of the storm via social media, which saw cars snowed under hail so thick it resembled snow.
ABC further confirmed that The Bureau of Meteorology reported hail was as deep as 30 centimetres in some areas.
Coffs Harbour SES Commander Jeannie Veitch told Today that the aftermath looked like a snowstorm after widespread hail and wind gusts reached 120km/h.
Check out the video below and see for yourself:
