A confirmed tornado tore through Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast on Saturday afternoon, peeling roofs from homes, smashing skylights and leaving streets littered with tiles and fallen trees, emergency officials said.
Timing and warnings
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain just after 1 p.m. local time. Within hours the bureau said a tornado had tracked through the area, calling the event “very unusual” for the region.
Video shared with broadcasters showed a rotating column moving across a residential hillside, while footage from a café captured staff rushing to stack outdoor furniture before wind and rain slammed the foreshore, sending umbrellas tumbling.
Damage on the ground
The NSW State Emergency Service said it had received more than 90 requests for help across the state by late afternoon, including 29 around Ulladulla. Crews were responding to stripped roofs, dislodged tiles, damaged skylights and trees and powerlines blocking roads.
Dozens of properties lost electricity as lines came down in the gusts. An SES incident management team opened in Ulladulla, with volunteers from nearby Nowra — which recorded close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9 a.m. — and surrounding towns joining the response.
Storms still building
Meteorologists warned that severe thunderstorms could continue into the evening along the southern ranges and coast. The broader weather system has already brought flood watches across sodden catchments in Victoria and additional storm risk in parts of NSW, though Saturday’s tornado was the standout hazard for coastal residents.
What residents should expect
SES controllers said call volumes were likely to rise as homeowners discovered daylight damage. They urged people to avoid fallen powerlines, document insurance claims once it was safe, and monitor bureau warnings if storms redeveloped overnight.
For Ulladulla, a town that depends on tourism and fishing, the cleanup will test local trades already stretched by a wet spring. Council crews and energy distributors were prioritising reconnections and road clearance before the next band of weather arrives.
Broader storm footprint
While Ulladulla bore the brunt of the rotating cell, the same frontal system has kept much of Victoria under flood watch and triggered severe thunderstorm advisories inland. The bureau’s Saturday evening update noted that damaging wind gusts remained possible along the Illawarra and South Coast even after the tornado lifted.
Insurers said it was too early to estimate losses, but the combination of roof failures and water ingress through broken skylights typically drives the highest claim volumes after convective wind events. Community halls in the Shoalhaven opened as informal relief points for residents who could not safely stay in damaged homes overnight.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, speaking earlier in the day about a separate incident in the Hunter, said emergency agencies were coordinating across regions as holiday traffic built on the Princes Highway. Drivers were warned to expect detours around fallen trees south of Nowra until chainsaw crews cleared the main arterials.