Sydney's Rare Tornado

The aftermath of Sydney's freak tornado: Incredible pictures trace the path of destruction that reduced suburb of Kurnell to a disaster zone - Two of the worst hit areas by the Kurnell tornado were Tasman and Bridges Streets.

Frank Partlic’s change in fortune in less than 24 hours can barely be imagined.

He had just sold his home at 26 Tasman Street for a record $1.15million at auction on Tuesday
afternoon – only for the tornado to leave his hopes in tatters.

All that remains of his renovated home of 17 years, with more than six months pre-sale work behind it, are the walls. Every room is inundated with roofing, sodden insulation and broken timber.


‘When it hit it was heavy rain and then this sheet of white like a fog came down,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Then it started, things coming off the roof, like a domino effect, and I had a lookoutside wondering where my daughter was and this huge black thing was flying through the air at me so I slammed the door.’
That black missile flying at him was a trampoline from across the road.

‘I ran to the back because the roof started collapsing and when the back corner caved in, I tried to grab my wallet and iPad and find somewhere safe.

‘It went through and down to the gully and then turned back around and came again, like it was chasing me.’

Shane Hendricks, 28, was recovering at home from a broken rib with partner Ellie Warner when the tornado swept in and ripped apart their home at 16 Tasman Street.

‘I had no idea, no warning,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It was swirling and came in hard ripping everything up.’

They took refuge in a bedroom with all their pets, including a horse.

The animal carers managed to save dozens of birds from a destroyed aviary, 12 dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits.

Natalie and Paul Hennessy on Bridges Street arrived home to find their pride and job intatters, holes in the roof, sodden carpets with broken glass and timber strewen through the rooms.

Other residents walked through the streets shellshocked, stunned at the damage which had been wrought in such a short time.

‘It’s everything we worked up to, everything’s gone,’ Mrs Hennessy cried.

‘The ceilings have caved in, even the floors have collapsed, everything.

‘It’s everything we ever wanted – we had a brand new bathroom now look at it.

‘We were going to have Christmas here with the whole family, now where will we go?’

Her mother-in-law Dianne was hiding in the granny flat when the storm swept in.

‘I was like a tornado hit us, we were in the flat, we battened down the hatches,’ she said.

‘It came back at us twice, the second storm came in and just dumped lots of rain.’