Merimbula units roof blows off in wild weather event, hail hits golf course

Strong winds, heavy hail and a downpour of rain that left as quickly as it arrived caught Merimbula by surprise on Wednesday afternoon, August 19 - and it seems only Merimbula and surrounds, as reports from other nearby towns didn't see the same wild weather.

Weatherzone reports wind gusts of up to 33kmh hit about 3.45pm, and 3.4mm of rain fell in a 15-min period.

The roof from a block of units on Kyeamba St is around 30-plus metres away, with several SES units and vehicles, including a large rescue truck on site surveying the situation trying to figure out how to approach it.

ACM reporter Denise Dion, who happened to be in the area, says it looks as though a large proportion of the roof - if not the entire thing - has blown off, and landed a considerable distance away from the block of flats.

The weather event was believed to have happened around 3.30pm and nearby resident Kirsty Den Hertog had just got home.

"There were huge winds. I noticed a couple of palm fronds just whizzed straight past my window. The palms were really bending and the wind was howling. It was just like the noise of a freight train. I heard a weird rushing wind and then a sound like a car collision," Kirsty said.

"I thought a car had crashed. I came out and realised the roof had hit the bitumen."

Another nearby resident Peter Hill said a huge gust of wind came through but only for about 30 seconds and just ripped the roof off.

"I thought a huge tree was going, it made such a huge din," Peter said.

The roof in question came from a block of units that were out of sight from where the roof actually landed. An entire section had been clearly ripped out the units and somehow travelled past another block of units to come to rest in the street.

SES crews started work to remove the tree debris and disassemble the roof.