NSW State Emergency Service (SES) crews are still responding to more than 120 reports of damaged properties after a severe storm impacted the Riverina at the weekend.

The towns of The Rock and Yenda saw significant damage with widespread power outages, uprooted trees and roof damage. There was also moderate impacts at Griffith, Wagga Wagga and Coleambally.

Murrumbidgee Council Mayor Ruth McRae said in the wake of the devastating storm that swept through Coleambally, and on behalf of all councillors and staff, she extended her heartfelt best wishes to everyone affected.

Cr McRae said this unprecedented weather event challenged us all, but the response from the community had been nothing short of inspiring.

“The resilience, solidarity and strength demonstrated by residents is a true reflection of the remarkable spirit that defines the town,” she said.

“A special thank you goes out to the SES for their tireless emergency response, to Essential Energy for their efforts in restoring power, to our dedicated council team, to the Boys to the Bush team for helping with the clean-up, as well as the countless volunteers and individuals who have supported their neighbours during this difficult time.

“The community’s collective efforts have shown just how strong and united we are, and together, we will continue to recover and move forward,” she said.

Despite the storm hitting Narrandera the damage was minor in comparison.

NSW Rural Fire Service – MIA District said the storm in the MIA bought with it lightning and whilst SES personnel were dealing with numerous calls to damage from the storm, eight RFS crews and two aircraft battled a 350ha fire southwest of Griffith. The fire took three and a half hours to bring under control.

A Weather Bureau spokesperson said a supercell generating destructive winds embedded within a squall line swept across the Riverina.

“The first Regional Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for the Riverina at 3.07pm and the final warning at 5.20pm,” they said.

Griffith saw the strongest wind gust with a 115kmh gust recorded at 3.16pm, Wagga had an 89kmh gust, Yanco recorded a 91kmh gust and Narrandera Airport saw a 93kmh gust.

Despite some reports of a tornado, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology said the Bureau did not have direct evidence of a tornado having occurred and many severe thunderstorms carry a slight chance of tornado development.

NSW SES Southern Zone Commander Chief Superintendent Ben Pickup said the storm came through the area about 3pm on Saturday afternoon, but despite the widespread damage there had not been major infrastructure damage or any reports of injury.

“We had 15 teams of SES crews on the ground alongside VRA, NSW RFS, and Fire and Rescue NSW who will be working through the various requests received,” Chief Superintendent Pickup said at the time.

“There are widespread power outages with many trees bringing down powerlines. Our priority is getting through the various damaged properties and undertake initial assessments to render them safe.”

NSW State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers continued to work through the effects of intense rainfall and destructive winds as severe weather moved through the Riverina and Central West.

From Saturday morning, the NSW SES had responded to more than 460 incidents across the state, with 298 of those in the Southern Zone after significant storms impacted the communities of Yenda near Griffith, The Rock near Wagga Wagga, causing widespread damage to homes and infrastructure at the weekend.

The busiest unit in the state was the NSW SES Griffith Unit, which responded to more than 70 incidents in 24 hours to 7am Sunday.

State Duty Commander, Assistant Commissioner Dean Storey said rapid damage assessment teams moved into the Riverina.

“There was significant damage in the Riverina after a storm brought destructive winds up to 115 kilometres per hour on Saturday afternoon,” Assistant Commissioner Storey said.

“NSW SES volunteers, along with our emergency service partners, responded to the majority of incidents and started assessing the impacts of the damage.”

Assistant Commissioner Storey encouraged people to download the Hazards Near Me app to stay across warnings and information relevant to their community in case of any further incidents.

“People can set up alerts on the app to get a notification when a severe weather warning, flood alert or update straight to their phones so they can prepare and respond to the impacts of severe weather as early as possible,” he said. 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 12 December 2024.