Cyclone Alfred triggers memories of Merimbula tornado on 30th anniversary

Although not quite the anniversary date, Merimbula and Pambula locals have this week recalled a wild tornado that tore apart homes and businesses on Easter Sunday, 1995.

It was the evening of April 16 when winds estimated at more than 180kmh cut a 100-metre-wide swathe of damage for around 10 kilometres.

Most damage was centred on a path running from Berrambool to the Merimbula CBD.

At the time, a witness reported seeing the storm approaching from the north "200 metres tall and funnel-shaped".

Thirty-six people were injured during the storm, many by flying glass, with four admitted to Pambula District Hospital for a range of injuries including a broken collarbone and electrocution.

About six homes were completely destroyed, with many others damaged so badly they needed to be bulldozed.

Roofs were torn off 10 motels and more than 200 other buildings were damaged.

Trees were uprooted and power lines were blown down.

The wild storm caused tens of millions of dollars in damages

Many considered it a miracle no lives were lost in the devastation.

For Carmen Lockerbie, who was 16 at the time, the memory of that night's storm was still vivid.

"I was coming back to the area after three months in Canberra and called my mum from a phone booth to say we were in for a big storm that night," Ms Lockerbie said.

"There were two layers of dark clouds, like two sheets of flat cloud - the lower one was absolutely racing.

"And all of a sudden there was strange lightning all around. It was like Hollywood paparazzi on steroids, just flash after flash continually.

"Then the power went out."

Ms Lockerbie said she received a call from her mum in the morning to check she was okay as there were reports of utter devastation at a Pambula caravan park.

"But I was at the Pambula Caravan Park. It was Pambula Beach caravan park that got blown to pieces."

Someone who saw that from a little closer was Trish Jones.

"We were up on the hill at a friend's place at Pambula Beach," Ms Jones recalled.

"It wasn't daylight, but wasn't quite dark yet either, and we were getting buffeted by wind and rain.

"It was obviously a storm coming. We could see a lot of activity down in the caravan park below us and thought 'Those poor campers out in this'.

"We had no real idea about what was actually happening. It came without any warning."

Soon the area was filled with the flashing lights of fire engines and rescue personnel.

"It wasn't really until the next day when we saw the extent of the damage. There were trees down everywhere.

"And the last house along Pambula Beach Road had been demolished."

At the time, Ms Jones was a high school teacher and said the next day in class was quite traumatic too.

"Of course, we were all talking about it at school the next day.

"When I got to my first class some kids told me they didn't have anything - no bags, no pens - as their homes had been completely demolished and they had nothing left.

"That really drove it home."

Stories of people's experiences with the tornado were extensively covered by the Merimbula News Weekly at the time.

One incident recalled a woman almost being sucked into the worst of the storm through a broken window at the Merimbula Bowling Club.

A man who grabbed hold of her ankles to haul her back was hailed as a hero.

Further up the hill, there was the unusual sight of a home with its curtains flapping on the outside.

Its roof had lifted up in the tornado's winds and the curtains sucked out, but then the roof fell back into place.

Amid the physical devastation, there were also emotional stories.

Like the Granger family from Berrambool which was reunited with a treasured family photo lost in the storm that turned up in an Eden garden.

Do you have other recollections of the 1995 tornado? Email me at ben.smyth@austcommunitymedia.com.au