WILD weather swept through Southend on Tuesday afternoon and damaged homes, sheds and fences.
Wind gusts of 90kph caused roofing iron to be lifted, blew in roller doors on sheds and smashed windows.
The Millicent State Emergency Service unit was mobilised and helped local residents with running repairs and other remedial activities for several hours.
The seven volunteers were kept busy at eight taskings in the Southend township and were not stood down until 8.30pm.
SES unit manager and Southend resident Gavin Golding is in no doubt it was a tornado which struck the coastal community.
Mr Golding said a family member was at home during the weather event and reported the whole house shook.
He said the extent of the damaging winds could be seen by the amount of property damage.
“The Bureau of Meteorology read the weather patterns and alerted the State headquarters of the SES at 1.10pm to tell us something nasty was heading our way,” Mr Golding said.
“We later heard from someone at Southend who measured the wind gust at 90kph.”
Mr Golding praised Southend locals who collected the roofing iron which had blown off a shed and down the road.
“It was great effort by all,” Mr Golding said.
“It was great seeing locals chipping in and helping out.”
The Millicent SES also assisted the Country Fire Service remove a tree which fell over at Bog Lane at Beachport at 7.30pm.
Wattle Range CFS group officer Fred Stent said it was the only tasking for his 21 brigades on Tuesday while Millicent police were not called to any weather-related incidents.
Millicent Windows and Doors director Helen Varcoe said a Southend customer also described the extreme storm event as a tornado as it had smashed out a window on their property.
Ms Varcoe said two houses at Rendelsham were damaged by a lightning strike in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“One of our customers described a very loud sound,” Ms Varcoe said.
“One of the houses had an upstairs window blown out as well as a downstairs window.
“The television and the NBN were also affected.
“The other house was nearby and one of its windows was damaged.”
Heavy rain fell in Millicent for much of Tuesday and there was flash flooding on several thoroughfares including Stuckey, Walker and Aitken streets.
The automatic weather station at Rivoli Bay recorded almost an Imperial inch of rain.
The gauge held 21.8mm in the 24-hour period ending 9am yesterday while the maximum temperature on Tuesday for most parts of the region was a chilly 11 degrees.
