WEDNESDAY afternoon’s wild winds are believed to have caused a “mini-tornado” in the Lucindale district, which left a trail of destruction.
South East farmers Lucy Pearce and Jon Paenga were shocked to wake up to a scene of complete destruction yesterday morning with large trees uprooted from the ground on their leased Avenue Range property.
Ms Pearce said she received a message from Mr Paenga about the damage, but conceded she thought he was being “over the top.”
“He told me about a mini tornado and I just thought he was kidding,” she said.
“I then drove down to where he said the damage had taken place on the other side of the farm and everything looked normal.
“I then arrived at this line of trees and branches uprooted everywhere.”
Ms Pearce said she was initially shocked at the damage.
“There were hardly any trees still standing on the side of the paddock it hit,” she said.
“The fence-line has been crushed by the trees but other than that we were lucky as we had no sheds in that area.
“We did have stock in the paddock but they seem fine.”
The incident disrupted Mr Paenga’s regular routine, spending yesterday cleaning up the property.
“He also had to go and check the rest of the property and make sure there was no other damage,” she said.
“We also had to clear the road from branches as they flew significant lengths.
“My boss, Jon and I have never seen anything like it before and we hope we never do again as it was crazy.”
