Bunbury WA: Terrifying new vision emerges of moment a freak tornado suddenly descended on Aussie town
New footage has emerged of the moment a surprise tornado ripped through a Western Australian town.
Up to 50 children were at the Bunbury Police and Community Youth Center in Bunburyabout two hours south of Perthwhen the storm hit Friday afternoon.
Paramedics also rushed two people to hospital after the storm passed through the area.
Dramatic footage of the scene, captured by local Ben Della-Sale, shows heavy rainfall, uprooted trees and the roof of the community center collapsing.
More than 140 properties have been damaged and dozens of people have been displaced.
A massive cleanup operation is now underway, with workers maintaining damaged electricity, telephone and gas lines and volunteers working to clear tree limbs scattered across the city.
New footage has emerged showing the moment a strange tornado ripped through Bunbury, about two hours south of Perth, Western Australia
Dozens of children were at the Bunbury Police and Community Youth Centre, south of Perth, when the storm hit on Friday afternoon
Dramatic images from the scene show how the roof and part of a wall were badly damaged by the fierce winds
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for the area at 4.27pm, forecasting thunderstorms with damaging winds and rainfall that could cause flash flooding.
Mr Della-Sale told the ABC he saw tree trunks being uprooted by the stormy wind.
‘We could see the rubble and as it came closer I saw palms getting uprooted, twisted, [there were] huge pieces of tin in the air, just thousands of them,” he said.
‘We almost ran into fallen power lines on the road. And there were other people on the other side shouting from the car saying stop. And then we saw the electricity cables in the water.’
Local Ben Della-Sale captured the early stages of the surprise tornado and described how trees were uprooted by the high winds
Mr Della-Stale ended up about 200 meters from the youth center where aAt least six ambulances were sent after a wall collapsed and the roof collapsed.
One woman in her 30s was confirmed injured and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A man was also taken to hospital from Bunbury Regional Prison, which was in the tornado’s path.
“An injured prisoner has been taken to hospital after a number of accommodation blocks in the minimum security area of the prison were damaged,” a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said.
State Emergency Services incident controller Chris Widmer said volunteers worked all night to clean up debris left in the tornado’s path.
More than 1,300 people are still without power thanks to damage to the city’s power lines, which is likely to last well into Sunday.
A massive cleanup operation is now underway to clear the power lines, tree branches and debris strewn by the storm
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services first reported that a tornado struck Bunbury about 4 p.m.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for the area at 4.27pm, forecasting thunderstorms with damaging winds and rainfall that could cause flash flooding.
More than 33,000 homes were left in the dark due to power cuts, while the SES has received at least 50 calls for help.
More than 140 homes were damaged and dozens of people were displaced