A tornado was observed near Young on September 10, prompting a severe weather warning for the area. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) confirmed the tornado occurred north west of Young about 3:30 pm.
This is on top of the State Emergency Service (SES) issuing a watch and act alert as they ask people to stay indoors in those areas. The tornado warning had passed, but the BOM said severe weather warnings were still in place, with a risk of hail, damaging winds and heavy rain.
NSW RFS inspector James Morris told the media the tornado was spotted about 3:30 pm.
“The Rural Fire Service fire tower cameras picked up what was believed to be a very significant weather cell building to the north-west of Young, around [an area] called Tubbul,” he said. “That camera picked up the cell, which was then sent through directly to our fire behaviour analyst team through to the Bureau of Meteorology, which we believe provided notification and warning of what we believe would be a tornado cell forming in that area.”
Mr Morris didn’t have an exact time on how long the tornado lasted, but said the early indications were that it was not very destructive.
“At this stage, there are no reports of any injuries or significant damage,” he said. “However, given that that cell is still moving through the area, we will hopefully see … whether emergency services do receive any further calls for assistance.”
It’s being reported that the rain is being blamed for an industrial explosion at the Port Kembla Steelworks. BlueScope Steel said the wet weather caused a reaction at the basic oxygen steelmaking plant’s slag-pit and created a steam explosion about 4:00 pm.
The SES said it had responded to 30 jobs over the period of wild weather, mostly involving leaking roofs and fallen trees.
– Kellie Stanfield
