Rare tornado hits Sydney with large hail and destructive winds

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The Australian city of Sydney starts clearing up after a rare typhoon swept through bringing high winds and cricket-ball sized hail stones.
Dangerous thunderstorms were forecast to affect the city, Sydney Olympic Park, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and waters off Bondi Beach, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said. PHOTO: NSW POLICE FORCE/FACEBOOK

SYDNEY (REUTERS) - A rare tornado hit Sydney on Wednesday (Dec 16) with destructive winds above 200km an hour and cricket ball-sized hail, bringing down trees and power lines, tearing off roofs, overturning vehicles and causing flash flooding.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued the rare tornado warning around midday as the dangerous storm swept up the coast from Sydney's south, forcing some international and domestic flights to be diverted to other cities.

"There is obvious evidence that we have had a tornado go through Cronulla (a southern Sydney suburb) today," BOM meteorologist Alan Sharp told Sydney media.

There were no reports of major damage and only a handful of people were reported injured as the storm passed over Australia's largest city.

Wind gusts as high as 213kmh were recorded in the beachside Kurnell neighbourhood near Sydney's airport, said the weather bureau.

A spokesman for Sydney International Airport said the airport had not closed but a handful of flights were diverted to different airports.

The large hail damaged cars, smashed windows, and tore shop awnings and yacht sails to shreds.

Some 6,000 homes were reportedly without power south of the city and rescue services received more than 200 calls for help in the city, according to media reports.

"The tornado risk has now subsided but there is a very good chance of more thunderstorm activity for the rest of today," said Mr James Taylor, senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology extreme weather desk.

"It is not out of the question there could be very localised tornadic activity but that will be something we will monitoring very closely for the rest of the day," he said.

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