Shocking footage has emerged of a tornado ripping the roof off a prison in Western Australia.
A freak storm wreaked havoc in the town of Bunbury, about two hours south of Perth, on Friday afternoon, causing damage to up to 40 homes.
The tornado was so powerful that it ripped the roofs off some of the buildings inside Bunbury Regional Prison.
Footage from the WA Department of Justice, obtained by the ABC, shows sheets of metal being ripped off as insulation material was being shipped through the jail.
An injured prisoner was taken to hospital and a department spokesman said “several housing blocks” in the minimum security section of the jail were damaged.
About 17 inmates had to be transferred to other facilities.
The roof of the Bunbury Regional Prison was torn off by a tornado in Washington on Friday afternoon.
Shocking footage captured the moment the roof began to break
Insulating material flew around the prison as wild weather wreaked havoc in Bunbury.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen children were inside the nearby Bunbury Police and Community Youth Centre. when the storm hit on Friday afternoon.
A woman in her 30s at the center was confirmed injured and was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Dramatic images of the scene captured by local Ben Della-Sale show torrential rain, trees uprooted and the roof of the community center collapsed.
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said miraculously the children were at the back of the building and out of danger when the tornado hit.
“There were about 15 neurodiverse children in the building at the time participating in activities within the gym side of the building and that is the side that was damaged,” he said.
“Almost miraculously, they were at the back of the building, or the other side of the building, at the time the tornado hit.”
Dozens of people have been displaced due to the bad weather and 140 calls for help were made to the SES.
A massive cleanup operation is currently 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.
More than a dozen 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 of the youth center 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.
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 as a result of damage to the city’s power lines that will likely extend 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 initially left in the dark amid power outages.
About 40 homes were damaged and dozens of people have been displaced
