A tornado tore through Ulladulla on the NSW south coast just after 1pm on Saturday, ripping roofs off homes, bringing down trees and powerlines, and lifting boats that had been chained up at the harbour onto a car park. The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed a tornado moved through the area and described the event as “very unusual”.
ABC News reported that the region was issued with a severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall just after 1pm, and that vision shows a rotating column of air crossing a residential area. Footage from outside a local cafe shows staff scrambling to drag in tables and chairs before the wind sent umbrellas flying into the harbour.
‘Just a mess, big mess’
Cafe owner Julius Machado told the ABC it had been a busy Saturday until about 1pm, when the sky darkened and everything changed in “a blink of an eye”.
“Just a big wind came through and it just swept away everything … the customers were sitting outside having coffee and lunch, and then they have to rush back in,” he said.
“Some rushed into the kitchen area, some went to the front section and it was terrible.”
Machado, who has run the cafe for close to seven years, said Ulladulla had copped strong storms before but nothing like this one, and likened it to watching a disaster movie.
“Nobody got the chance to move or move the stuff. It just came through so quickly. In the 30 seconds, just swept over everything.”
Then it was gone. “It [lasted] just for a couple of minutes. That’s it. And yeah, back to normal after that,” he said. The cafe closed early to clean up broken glasses and plates: “was just a mess, big mess”.
SES sets up an incident team in town
The NSW State Emergency Service said it had received more than 90 calls for assistance across the state on Saturday 3 October 2026, including 29 around Ulladulla.
Crews are working on roofs torn off homes, dislodged tiles and skylights, and fallen trees and powerlines. Dozens of properties have lost power.
An SES incident management team has been set up in Ulladulla, with crews responding from Nowra and surrounding areas. Nowra had taken close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9am. The SES expects calls to climb, with severe thunderstorms forecast to continue into the evening.
What a torn roof means on the tools
For builders and roofers in the Shoalhaven, this is make-safe work before it’s repair work. The first job on a stripped roof is covering it: tarps, battened down properly, so the next cell doesn’t put water through the ceilings as well.
After that it’s a sequence. Strip back the damaged tiles or sheets, then look at what’s under them, because wind uplift is as hard on the fixings and the battens as it is on the covering. Splits in rafters and screws pulled through purlins are the sort of thing that only shows up once the roof is open. Re-sheeting or re-tiling and reflashing comes last, and on older homes the flashings and valleys are often the part that gives up first.
Two cautions that matter more after a storm than on a normal job. Older eaves sheeting, roof sheets and wall linings in homes built before 1990 can contain bonded asbestos, and storm damage breaks it up rather than leaving it intact. Get suspect material tested before anyone touches it. Friable asbestos removal requires a licensed removalist everywhere in Australia, and the rules for small quantities of bonded material vary by state, so check with SafeWork NSW rather than relying on a figure someone quoted you on another site.
The second is power. Fallen and dislodged powerlines are a job for the network operator, not for anyone on a ladder, and any fixed electrical work in the repair, including replacing damaged switchboards or rewiring a ceiling that’s been soaked, requires a licensed electrician in every state and territory. There’s no DIY version of that work.
Homeowners chasing emergency repairs should check a contractor’s licence through NSW Fair Trading before handing over a deposit, and those wanting more than one quote can get quotes from local carpenters before committing. Anyone quoting should expect insurers to want photographs of the damage before it’s covered up.
What to watch
The SES warning window hadn’t closed when crews were still working through the first round of calls, and more severe storms were forecast across the south coast into Saturday evening. That means a second wave of make-safe jobs is possible on roofs already opened up, and the tarps that went on in a hurry this afternoon will cop the test.
Frequently asked questions
Can homeowners do their own roof or electrical repairs after a storm?
No. Any fixed electrical work, including replacing a damaged switchboard or rewiring a soaked ceiling, requires a licensed electrician in every state and territory, and fallen powerlines must be left to the network operator.
Is asbestos a risk in storm-damaged roofs?
It can be. Homes built before 1990 may have eaves sheeting, roof sheets or wall linings containing bonded asbestos, and storm damage can break the material up rather than leaving it intact, so suspect material should be tested before anyone touches it.
How can homeowners check if a repair contractor is licensed?
NSW Fair Trading lets homeowners check a contractor’s licence before paying a deposit for emergency storm repairs.
Sourced from ABC News. Original article.
