New footage has emerged showing the moment a surprise tornado ripped through a town in Western Australia.
Up to 50 children were inside the Bunbury Police and Community Youth Center in Bunbury.approximately two hours south of Perthwhen the storm hit on Friday afternoon.
Paramedics also took two people to hospital after the freak storm passed through the area.
Dramatic images of the scene captured by local Ben Della-Sale show torrential rain, trees uprooted and the roof of the community center collapsed.
More than 140 properties have been damaged and dozens of people displaced.
A massive cleanup operation is now underway as workers tend to damaged power, telephone and gas lines and volunteers work to clear tree branches scattered around the city.
New images have emerged showing the moment a freak tornado ripped through Bunbury, about two hours south of Perth in Western Australia.
Dozens of children were inside the Bunbury Police and Community Youth Centre, south of Perth, when the storm hit on Friday afternoon.
Dramatic images from the scene show how the roof and part of a wall were severely damaged by the strong winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather alert for the area at 4.27pm, predicting storms with damaging winds and rain that could cause flash flooding.
Mr. Della-Sale he told ABC He saw tree trunks uprooted by hurricane-force winds.
“We could see the rubble and as it got closer I could see palms uprooted, twisted, [there were] huge chunks of tin in the air, just thousands of them,” he said.
‘We almost collided with fallen power lines on the road. And there were other people on the other side yelling from the car saying stop. And then we noticed the electric cables in the water.’
Local Ben Della-Sale recorded the initial stages of the surprise tornado and described seeing trees uprooted by the strong winds.
Mr. Della-Stale ended up about 200 meters from the youth center whereAt least six ambulances were dispatched after a wall collapsed and the roof collapsed.
A woman in her 30s was confirmed injured and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A man was also taken to hospital from Bunbury Regional Prison, which was in the path of the tornado.
“An injured prisoner has been taken to hospital after several housing blocks in the minimum security section of the prison were damaged,” a Justice Department spokeswoman said.
State Emergency Service incident controller Chris Widmer said volunteers had been working through the night to deal with the mess left in the tornado’s path.
More than 1,300 people remain without power thanks to damage to the city’s power lines that will likely last well into Sunday.
A massive cleanup operation is underway to clear power lines, tree branches and debris scattered by the storm.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services first reported that a tornado had hit Bunbury at around 4 p.m.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather alert for the area at 4:27 p.m., predicting thunderstorms with damaging winds and rain that could cause flash flooding.
More than 33,000 homes were left in the dark amid power cuts, while the SES received at least 50 calls for help.
More than 140 homes were damaged and dozens of people have been displaced
