A freak wind gust has picked up a caravan and blown it into a house at the small community of Tuena in the NSW Southern Tablelands.
While caravanners are understandably wary of high winds when they are out on the roads, the incident proves just how devastating strong gusts can be for stationary vehicle, too.
SES Controller Robert Bell told the Goulburn Post that it had been a ‘freak’ incident.
“A tunnel of wind put the caravan onto the roof of the house and kept going causing other damage,” Mr Bell said. “This property has significant damage to walls, roof, a toilet block and a shearing shed, but no one was injured.”
The SES member said the wind had caused a lot of damage around Tuena, which is about 270 kilometres west of Sydney. It said the wind had left a trail of destruction in an area of about 2 kilometres long by about 400 metres wide.
The township sits on Tuena Creek, a tributary of the Abercrombie River which is commonly used by campers.
This is down my neck of the woods – there is a very good reason why there are so many wind turbines around Taralga and environs. There is almost a constant supply of wind energy streaming through the valleys and up the escarpments.