Severe Australian twister leaves trail of Destruction
Pastor Dale Morgan
Severe Australian twister leaves trail of Destruction*
March 14, 2007 10:39pm
Article from: AAP
METEOROLOGISTS say a severe storm that devastated part of a southwestern
Queensland community, was created by a rare twister type phenomenon.
The storm hit the town of 26 Mile, near Tara, west of Toowoomba last
night, flipping a semi-trailer and destroying houses in less than 10
minutes, with winds estimated at up to 100km/h.
Bureau of Meteorology severe weather forecaster Peter Otto said the
intense storm, estimated by residents to have lasted just seven minutes,
had been produced by a “supercell” - the most severe type of storm.
“With that sort of damage the winds could easily be 100 km/h or more,”
he said.
Mr Otto said it was even possible a tornado had been produced in the
once-a-year event.
Emergency Management Queensland Toowoomba area director Bob Bundy said
clean-up crews had been busy today, but an estimate of the cost of
damages would not be available for some days.
“(The damage) is concentrated in a relatively small pocket - a few
kilometres long and not particularly wide,” Mr Bundy said.
But inside that area some homes had been absolutely devastated, having
lost roofs and been smashed by trees.
The storm had been part of a long line of storms last night stretching
from Tara to Mt Isa.