‘There’s so much damage’: Huge downpour hits Port Augusta again
Port Augusta has been hit with another serious thunderstorm, with heavy rains and hail “the size of small golf balls” causing flash flooding and property damage in the Spencer Gulf town.
Photo: Daniel Pizarro
The Bureau of Meteorology reported this morning that Port Augusta was hit with 21mm of rainfall in the 30 minutes to 4.25pm on Wednesday.
The city recorded 40mm of rain since 9am on Wednesday, according to the BoM.
Large hail lashing the upper spencer gulf. A flood Watch and Act message has been issued for Port Augusta. #wildweather #SouthAustralia pic.twitter.com/E0HufgC2nl
— Edward McCarroll (@edmccarroll) September 7, 2022
Massive storm has struck #portaugusta bringing torrential rain, hail, lightning and thunder. More on @SpencerGulfNN with @madelinemaykerr pic.twitter.com/ZjbHJsYJXR
— Daniel Pizarro (@DJPizarro) September 7, 2022
The State Emergency Service has responded to more than 50 calls for assistance and is currently responding to 12 severe weather incidents in SA’s north.
Videos on social media have shown water flooding into businesses and sheets of hail covering local streets.
Cinema Port Augusta owner Michelle Coles said her cinema was severely damaged by flooding.
“There’s so much damage up here, it’s just awful,” she told ABC Radio this morning.
“There’s businesses closed everywhere… the hail was just unbelievable. I’m an old lady and I’ve never heard anything like it.
“[The hail] was about the size of small golf balls, when they first started it was like someone was throwing these enormous rocks on our roof.
“It was just a sea of white outside, all the roads were just white and covered with ice because the hail was just so intense.”
It’s the second major weather event to hit Port Augusta this year after a summer storm saw the city record four times its average January rainfall fell in one hour.
The January 31 downpour saw 51.6mm of rain dumped on Port Augusta between 8 and 9pm that night and resulted in 80 calls for assistance to the SES.
“There are so many people here hurting, there are people who have only just recently reopened their business from when we had the floods in January,” Coles said.
“There were people’s rooves collapsed, of course the gutters just couldn’t take the weight of all this hail.
“It was incredible, quite frightening actually.”
The BoM says the immediate threat of thunderstorms around Port Augusta has passed but the situation will continue to be monitored.
Adelaide was able to avoid the worst of the downpour, with BoM’s Adelaide Airport observation station recording just 5.6mm of rain since 9am on Wendesday.
