North Victoria Hit by Rare Tornado

The roofs of up to ten houses were ripped when a great storm hit Victoria's far north area last Sunday afternoon at around 3pm.One of the areas that greatly affected is Strathmerton. It is known as Tornado Alley and is prone to strong winds, flash floods, destructive hailstorms. These are brought about by severe thunderstorms that usually blow within the area.

Bureau of Meteorology Claire Yeo said, "The area north and west of the Victorian part of the Great Dividing Range (the northern plains) is a favourable area for super-cell and squall-line thunderstorms that occasionally end up producing tornadoes.

However, last Sunday's thunderstorm came with little warning. One of the residents told ABC News: 'I heard a big sort of swelling rumble and I just picked up my little boy and ran down the hallway and it hit, and just lifted off the roof and took off the veranda'.

A senior forecaster from Bureau of Meteorology, Peter Newham, reported that the damage in Nathalia looked like it was a result of a tornado while the wild winds experienced in Strathmerton were due to a strong squall.

Yeo also explained the two types of wind damages caused by thunderstorms. She said that the kind usually felt by Victoria is brought about but the straight-line winds. Such winds 'extend out in a circular fashion from thunderstorms - effectively a rush of air down-drafting from the thunderstorm'. The other kind of wind damage is the tornado. Tornadoes are defined by Yeo as 'a vortex of rotating winds that appear as a funnel-shaped cloud beneath a thunderstorm'. Tornadoes also occur in Victoria, but the damaging straight-line winds are more common in the area.

A total of 235 calls for help were received by the State Emergency Service, 35 of which are about fallen trees that have created traffic hazards and five more about flooding.

The State Emergency Service also stated that seven houses were also severely damaged while three are now considered as uninhabitable. Power lines also occurred in several areas.

A video has been posted on Facebook showing what transpired Sunday.