There were over 100 emergency personnel working in Dunoon. Photo by Frank Ford.

Friday, 26th

A severe weather warning had been issued for the Lismore area. It was less than 3 weeks after the hailstorm that devastated Lismore. The residents of the village of Dunoon (population 500) in the heart of the macadamia county 18kms north of Lismore, waited with anticipation as the storm approached from the south. No one could have predicted the events that were about to unfold.

Photo by Tracey Rudd.

Shortly before 16:00hrs a second storm cell quickly developed into a tornado, which touched down 1.5kms southwest of Dunoon. After destroying one house, it tracked across a paddock and followed the ridgeline straight into the southern end of the village.

16:25hrs: I arrived on scene at the edge of the village as soon as the storm had passed. I was confronted with fallen trees and powerlines across the main road into Dunoon Village - as far as I could see. There were houses without roofs and the small brick Anglican Church had three of its walls blown out, the house next door to the church also sustained severe damage. I immediately called for the assistance of SES, Police and Country Energy as well as responding Dunoon and Tullera brigades. How far into the village the damage had extended was not known at this time.

My first priority was to block the road and secure my end of the scene as cars were attempting to drive through and villagers, in a state of shock and confusion of what had just happened, were walking over and around the fallen powerlines. One of our drivers arrived minutes later and had to skirt around the village on foot through farm paddocks to the brigade station so that our CAT 1 could be used to secure the northern end of the scene and a full assessment of the situation could be made.

16:30hrs: John Hildebrand, Captain of Tullera Brigade, arrived on scene and stopped all traffic 1km south of the village. RFS personnel had to contend with stressed parents trying to get through to their children at Dunoon Public School situated in the middle of the secured area. There were reports that it had suffered considerable damage and there were still some teachers and children sheltering at the front of the building unable to exit because of the fallen power lines. Tullera crew members were despatched to accompany and offer support to schoolchildren on 3 buses that were blocked at the edge of the village. Once it was determined to be safe, traffic was diverted via the villages of Corndale and Dorroughby to the northern end of Dunoon where angst-ridden parents could be reunited with their children.

17:00hrs: Lismore Police arrived on scene to assist RFS with security, followed by the SES. Country Energy and NSW Ambulance arrived at 17:20 hrs. A second storm came in from the northwest but luckily only brought rain. After the removal of fallen powerlines, Country Energy declared the area safe for emergency personnel to enter at 18:00hrs. Teachers and children who were trapped in the school were released and the school buses were allowed to pass through the area. (The children had been waiting patiently on the buses for 2 hours.) SES took over control of the incident at this time.

18:00-21:30hrs: 10 crew members from Dunoon, 8 from Tullera and 6 crew from The Channon continued with road security, cleared roads and driveways of debris as well as assisting the SES with doorknocking to check the welfare of residents and assess property damage. At 19:00hrs members of Dunoon Brigade took their portable generator to the Dunoon Sports Club, which had sustained some damage also, and a refuge area was set up to provide support and hot food and drink for residents and emergency personnel. Country Energy took over the control of the scene security at 21.30hrs and all RFS areas stood down for the night.

Saturday 27th October 2007

The clean-up begins. Photo by Helen Wallace.

Power had been restored to some sections of the village overnight. At 08:00hrs the Dunoon brigade shed was set up as an operations command centre for the SES and the adjoining park provided adequate shade for a rest and refreshment area. It was a hot day and the humidity was very high. Six SES and four NSW Fire Brigade crews conducted further damage assessment and prioritised tasks. Country Energy was out in force. They had worked through the night and would continue their work in the village for several days. Apart from the many fallen powerlines, Dunoon’s sub power station had been hit by flying roofing iron causing considerable power disruption.

The prime responsibility of the RFS was to use its specialist chainsaw skills to clear fallen trees and debris from residential blocks as well as liaising with the community. Specialist teams of tree loppers were called in to assist with trees considered too dangerous for our crews to handle. This enabled the SES to concentrate on tarping roofs and attending to structural damage to ensure all properties were safe and secure. Crews from Tullera and The Channon assisted with the clean up until 11:30hrs while Dunoon Brigade continued though out the day until they were stood down at 16:00hrs. It was a huge effort by all agencies involved but it was the RFS who were first on the scene to quickly and effectively secure the area and control the peak hour traffic. Incredibly there were no reports of any injuries. Had the tornado hit an hour earlier, many children would have been either in the school classrooms that were totally destroyed or being collected by parents outside the school.

SES crews from as far as Casino were called in to help clean up the devestation in Dunoon. Photo by Pat Frahm.

Summary of Damage:

• 2 houses, 1 church, 2 school rooms destroyed.
• 1 sports club amenities block and several houses severely damaged.
• Over 20 houses with roof damage
• Damage to 1 power sub station and many powerlines (both high and low voltage).

The tornado only travelled into Dunoon approximately 650 meters randomly touching down on buildings before reaching the school then swerving off into farm paddocks. It then skirted around most of the village and then caused more destruction to another house and the community built Sports Club and Amenities building as it swung back into the northern edge of the village. Dunoon can consider itself extremely lucky more devastation did not occur, and that thankfully no one was killed.

Ross McDougall, Captain

Dunoon Rural Fire Brigade