Backyard wrecked by whirly-whirly
michael.nolan@thechronicle.com.au
KARIN Watson was enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon at home with her cat and two dogs when, without warning, her house started to shake.
The cups and saucers trembled in the china cabinet and the windows rattled.
“Then I heard a loud bang,” Mrs Watson said.
“It sounded like the roof was caving in.”
The event started about 3.30pm and lasted minutes.
Mrs Watson said the scene outside her home was one of the devastation.
The neighbour’s trampoline had been tangled and tossed across the yard, destroying their Hills Hoist.
Mrs Watson’s garden furniture was thrown about and a heavy wooden gate protecting her grandson’s veggie patch swung on its hinges.
“I don’t know how it could have moved, not even I can lift it,” she said.
“The cat’s dish was blown away and I still can’t find it.
The worst damage was discovered the next day when Mrs Watson’s husband noticed about 25 concrete roofing tiles had blown out of place.
Many were cracked. “The holes were seven feet wide,” Mrs Watson said.
“They were big enough for a man to fall through and you could see the wooden roof frames.”
Mrs Watson’s Payne St home borders the Toowoomba Aerodrome and she thought maybe a low-flying helicopter caused the roofwrecking gust.
However, she had lived there for 30 years, without incident.
Strangely only three properties on the street were affected.
This leaves a freak wind event as the likely culprit.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jess Gardener said a whirly-whirly had the potential to lift roofing tiles.
“They can be pretty strong, and it is possible,” she said.
“They are incredible localised and a whirly-whirly could have literally been at her house and nowhere else.”
Ms Gardner said the only strong wind recorded at the airport Saturday was a 57kmh gust at noon.
“The only other thing would be a big gust from a storm outflow,” she said
“But you would expect multiple people to report that, especially at the airport.”