Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Damien on June 03, 2010, 03:30:29 am
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After seeing the news that Peters home town was hit by a tornado this morning,
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/features/twister-hits-lennox-head-causes-damage-hail-storms-on-the-way/story-e6freorf-1225874832476
I ask for all to keep Peter and his family and town in your thoughts and prayers please.
Damien.
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Thank you Damien
Updates will be awaited and trust that good news will follow.
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Now that is bad news. keeping fingers crossed fro him. Any one got any more news??
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Hoping Peter and his family are OK
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The 6pm news said no deaths only 2 injured, 100 homes destroyed it seems a water spout hit land and became a full blown tornado with 300kph winds town will likely be declared a disaster area, still 2000 homes without power. Sadly looters are already going through destroyed homes. I personally feel they should be shot on sight.
I'm sure Peter will let us know when he can.
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With all the telegraph poles down, and 2000 homes withoug power it could be a few days before we here from him.
But we wish him all the best.
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Thank you everyone for your concern :-))
It has certainly been quite a day in little old Lennox Head and luckily we missed out on any damage. However, many others weren't so lucky, and 12 houses have been destroyed with many others suffering various degrees of damage. Engineers are inspecting some houses tomorrow to determine whether they can be repaired. It's a a miracle that no one was killed or seriously injured.
I have never seen anything like it except on TV and, while it was nowhere near as big as some the American mid west suffers from, it did a lot of damage in a couple of minutes. It's the first time ever that the Bureau of Meteorology has used the term "tornado" in official reports, as we normally don't get them. We have been without power all day, and it's only recently been restored, so I have had no internet access.
I took some photos of the damage, and will post them tomorrow morning our time, but here is a link to our local newspaper's web site which has some info on the tornado.
http://www.northernstar.com.au/ (http://www.northernstar.com.au/)
Peter.
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Glad to hear you are OK :)
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So glad you and your loved ones are all well Peter. :-)) :-)) :-)) Now we can get on with some modelling in peace!! :-) :-)
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>>:-( mmmmmmmmmm we got drenced once & near {:-{ drowned once today Peter down here in the Gong........ but no where as severe as your part of our coast
On my return home drive this afternoon on our 100 Km/h expressway the traffic speed was down to ~~~~30 Km/h as we could not see :-X
Good to hear that all is well & OK with you & yours..........Derek
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Glad you are OK Peter!
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Thanks for the e'mail Peter, I'm glad you are all OK.
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Good to see at least some good news coming from the area,
I hope it is all fixed up soon.........
Roy
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I'm glad that you're ok Peter,and that you and your family are safe. :-)) O0
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Hi Peter glad that you are well and came out the otherside ok looked huge on tv take care tassie 48.
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So glad to hear that you and the family are all OK. What a big shock it must have been.
Have been reading up on it. You were very lucky there.
Ken
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I'm glad that you're ok Peter,and that you and your family are safe. :-)) O0
Seconded!
Guy
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Glad all are safe Peter.
Bob
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It's a relief to hear from you again, although most of us never meet, we are all part of this little community and do wish each other well.......so here's wishing all the best to you and yours Peter.
Chris
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Sheez !! you were lucky there Peter !! - glad to hear you and yours are all safe and well.
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Thanks again everyone for all your good wishes, but we are among the lucky ones.
The edge of the tornado passed within 50 metres of our place, but we got almost no wind at all. A dead palm frond on one of our palm trees, which is nearly ready to fall off, did not even move, yet a palm tree just across the street was partially shredded. Big caravans in the caravan park, only 150 metres from here, were picked up and thrown 20 or 30 metres crashing onto vans behind, demolishing them. Luckily they were unoccupied as they are holiday vans and it's winter here. I have only seen the kind of damage we saw here on TV footage of US tornadoes although, by American standards, ours was only a little one.
Sections of the village resemble a war zone, with debris scattered about everywhere, and our end of town is closed to all but residents and emergency workers. I went to our model boat club meeting last night in Ballina, and had to show ID to get back to our street. The NSW State Government has declared Lennox Head a natural disaster zone, which means that the local council can access State funds to assist with the clean up, which will go on for quite a while, I would imagine, given the amount of debris.
I took a few photos, some while the storm was still going, and the others are of some of the damage which, ironically enough, are in brilliant sunshine. I did not get a shot of the tornado itself, as it passed too quickly, but I did get one, from our kitchen window, of another waterspout off the coast to the north east of us. Fortunately, it stayed out at sea. You may notice, in the waterspout shot, the tangle of power lines on one of the poles. The photo of the pine trees on the beach front shows a section of roofing suspended in the branches.
It's a beautiful day today, which at least will allow the clean up to proceed unhindered.
Peter.
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Peter:
Good to hear you're OK. You got off really lucky. Must be time to buy a lottery ticket
John
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Peter:
Good to hear you're OK. You got off really lucky. Must be time to buy a lottery ticket
John
John, perhaps we've used up all our luck O0
Here are some photos that were sent to me of the tornado off shore, then crossing the coast. Quite a remarkable series of shots, and they appear to be taken from a house up near Lennox headland. I don't know who took them.
In photos numbered 522 and 523, debris can be seen in the air, and in the last one another waterspout can be seen to the right of the picture.
Peter.
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Glad you are OK Peter.
That looks terrible. Hope the community pulls together and gets sorted promptly.
Roger in France
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Not too much of a religious sort Peter but they do say God shines on the righteous, well I reckon you must be up amongst the good 'uns.
Glad all is well with you and yours, best wishes to you and commiserations to all those that have suffered in anyway.
Regards, Tony.
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Thanks, Tony, but I'm not sure whether we are among the good uns, just the lucky ones. The percentage of people directly affected is very small, they were the unlucky ones.
The village is getting back to normal surprisingly quickly, except for the unfortunate ones who lost their houses of course, it will be a long time before their lives return to normal. The streets have been cleared of debris, and are now reopened to all traffic, and the local council's trucks are everywhere collecting wreckage where necessary. Apparently, one of the biggest concerns for those cleaning up was the risk posed by asbestos, as it was used in many older buildings. Water trucks continuously wet down the streets, and workers clad in protective clothing were sweeping, and even using vacuum cleaners, to pick all the asbestos up. Another problem will be broken glass, especially in a seaside community where people regularly go barefoot. Small fragments of clear window glass can be hard to see in grassed areas, and I have already picked up some dangerous looking pieces. I'm sure others will also be aware of the problem.
Lennox Head is well known, even internationally, among the surfing fraternity, but it has achieved another kind of fame as a result of the tornado. News crews from all the major TV networks have been doing live broadcasts from the village, with regular updates in each news bulletin. That will all change in a few days and, to the outside world, Lennox Head's tornado will just be a distant memory. For those directly affected, however, the memory will remain for life.
Peter.
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Good to hear your OK, and the affected people get back on their feet.
Nick
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...glad to hear you and your family are safe.
Robert
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Thanks Nick and Robert. It's beautiful weather now, hard to believe it actually happened, until you see the damage.
Peter.