Queanbeyan residents and members of the NSW SES Queanbeyan Unit, Cassandra Philpot and Chris Hood, felt the full force of the storm that hit the area this week.
Cassandra, who has lived in Queanbeyan since 1992, said she was at home with her family when the chaotic weather hit.
“It was my day off and I was home with my daughter when the NSW SES message came through to say there was a severe weather warning, so we went outside to make sure everything was secured – and the wind practically lifted us off our feet,” Cassandra said.
“I think that was the wind gust that was later reported as being more than 100 kilometres an hour at the airport.”
Cassandra said the wind delivered heavy rain for approximately 20 minutes, including five minutes of hail.
“A piece of trim was torn from the roof and the force of the wind took the clouts out,” she said.
“The rain was so heavy it sounded like hail and each drop hit our tin roof like a hammer – the noise was deafening.”
Cassandra was able to use her NSW SES expertise to repair damage to her home caused by the storm.
“I saved them a call-out,” she said.
Queanbeyan was one of the State’s worst impacted areas during Monday’s storms, with 110 requests for assistance received by the NSW SES. Numerous members suffered property damage from the hail, mainly to their cars.
Statewide the NSW SES received 810 jobs, with other hard-hit areas including Sutherland, Liverpool and Campbelltown.
Photo: NSW SES volunteers attending to a local resident home, with roof damage by recent hailstorms in Queanbeyan.
