NSW: Storms rip through north coast

AAP General News (Australia)
12-19-1998
NSW: Storms rip through north coast

SYDNEY, Dec 19 AAP - Severe storms ripped through the far north coast of NSW last night,
leaving a damage bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars, emergency workers said today.

Wind gusts reached almost 200kph as the storms ripped a path from Yamba, through Byron Bay,
and north to the Queensland border, a State Emergency Services (SES) spokesman said.

The roofs were ripped off nine houses and another 21 houses were severely damaged.

Most of the houses on the north coast were without power for a large part of the night, the
spokesman said.

Hailstones the size of tennis balls were reported in the Maclean shire, north of Grafton.

He said the SES responded to almost 100 calls for help in the towns of Murwillumbah and
Ballina which were badly hit by the storm.

Houses lost roofs, trees were uprooted and the towns experienced flash flooding.

At the Hibiscus Caravan Park in Ballina, one caravan was completely destroyed by the wind,
and many residents had to be relocated to other parts of the park.

The Alstonville police station near Murwillumbah was severely damaged.

Kempsey experienced flash flooding during a smaller storm about 4pm.

SES crews worked until the early hours of the morning to complete high priority repairs,
and would continue clean up operations at first light when a full damage assessment would be
conducted.

More than 200 volunteers are expected to pitch in today to make sure all repairs are
complete before more storms forecast tonight.

AAP rat/cfm

KEYWORD: STORMS

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