Wild Weather Leaves Kurri Kurri Looking Like a War Zone

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It could be days before Kurri Kurri gets back on its feet after a ferocious storm ripped through the area yesterday afternoon.

Cyclonic conditions hit the town at about 2pm, with it came winds of up to 100 kilomtres per hour that ripped roofs off buildings, brought trees down on cars and cut power to thousands of homes.

Image MJF Productions.

Emergency services were run off their feet with the Kurri Kurri Community Centre evacuated after the building partially collapsed, and the Ambulance Practice hall became one of the worst hit with the roof completely ripped off.

Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent said the storm was short but severe.

"I was in the area yesterday when it happened and it is like a war zone,"

"The plan today is that the SES, the police and council have a meeting this morning and from there we will work out a way forward, particularly around the safety aspect of the buildings that lost their roofs," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Today Kurri Kurri Public School is closed due to damage, as will the library until it is given the all clear. The OOSh which runs out of the Ambulance Hall will relocate if a suitable venue can be found.



"We will get a full assessment today with the meeting between SES, the police and council and we will then be putting forward an emergency funding plan from the government," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Rachael Squires from the SES says crews are still dealing with dozens of calls for assistance.

"In total, we had over 175 calls for assistance. Last night we had 20 crews on the ground from across our region, we also had assistance from a number of crews from Fire and Rescue and so we managed to be able to complete around 90 of those jobs so we'll still be working on the ground today."

Ausgrid is still working to restore power to 1300 homes around Kurri Kurri, Abermain, Weston Sawyers Gully and Loxford.

"Everyone needs to remain safe because we still have around 1300 people without power so it's going to be a tough day again today," said Mayor Bob Pynsent.

Kurri Kurri Communuity Centre Image MJF Productions.

Image MJF Productions.

High Fire Danger in the Hunter today

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

There's a High Fire Danger for the Hunter today with temperatures expected to hit the mid to high 20s in some areas while unfavourable winds whip the region as well.

The northwesterly winds are expected to gust up to 50 kilometres per hour and it's prompted the Rural Fire Service to postpone the hazard reduction burns which were scheduled for the Hunter today.

The warm and windy conditions are expected to stick around until Friday.

Image MJF Productions Facebook Page

Nothing is yet to match the Pasha Bulka storm

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The devastation the 2007 Pasha Bulker storm left behind is yet to be matched after nine lives were lost and well over $1 billion worth of damage was caused.

The 40,000 tonne Panamanian vessel played a part in many people's lives Friday 8th June 10 years ago, including Westpac Rescue Helicopter crewman Glen Ramplin who played a big part in bringing 22 crewmen off the Pasha Bulker to shore.

Image Dave Barnett

At first, Glen thought it was a joke when the former president of Nobbys Surf Life Saving Club rang him to say there was a bulk carrier headed straight for the beach, but then the rescue helicopter's phones started ringing off the hook with the same situation.

Before he knew it Glen and his crew were in a helicopter looking straight at a big red ship which you could've been mistaken for thinking was parked in the centre of the city.

Glen couldn't thank his crew enough for having his back while he helped crewmen off the deck of the Pasha Bulker in what were almost cyclonic conditions in the smaller of the two rescue helicopters after the Bell 142 chopper was diverted from the ship to Clarencetown where local couple Bob and Linda Jones had been swept away.

"I've never experienced the wind the way it was, it was gusting over 100km/hr and made it quite difficult for the pilot to maintain his hover above the ship because of the wind gusting and the fact that the ship was still moving around and because we had to walk through an oil spill on the actual deck so once we were up on the hatch cover it was, I described it like being on an ice skating rink," said Glen.

 Video courtesy Dave Barnett

Former Lord Mayor of Newcastle John Tate says the gravity of the situation really didn't sink in until the weekend when flood waters started to take over parts of the city.

"We weren't aware of how bad it was going to be but then, of course, the next day and overnight we were very much aware that severe flooding had taken place particularly in Wallsend and certainly other locations in the city area, in the middle suburbs and that became a  concern - people's lives were at risk, cars were strewn everywhere and people's homes were damaged."

The former Lord Mayor believes the city learnt a lot from the disastrous storms but nevertheless "emergency services did a fine job and we were able to do as much as we could to get things tidied up (that weekend) and that went on for the next several weeks of course".

Wallsend's town centre hasn't been the same since the 2007 storm, businesses were left damaged beyond repair and shop fronts have been left empty ever since.

Now a business owner in Cardiff, Max McCorkell says at the time if there was something substantial done by the council to bring the street back to life they would've stayed, but it wasn't the case.

"I'm afraid council were very lax in that regard, it was all pen on paper and word of mouth and that was it, there was no physical action taken by the council to remedy the problem."

Now the council are working towards raising all three bridges into the town centre and promoting ideas for better access via cycleways and pathways, but former business owners think it could still be too little, too late.

Rain, rain go away, come again another day

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter is in for a change in weather this weekend with northeasterly winds forecast for this afternoon and a wet, wet weekend.

A slow moving rain band is making its way across the state and will bring with it a consistent dumping of rain which will be around for most of the weekend. It's not expected there'll be hundreds of millimetres of rain, but there'll be plenty of it and possibly thunderstorms.

"There's a big rain band moving in across the western part of the state and that is going to be moving through tonight and it's fairly slow moving so it's going to take most of Friday night into Saturday and probably affect the majority of Saturday as well so it's widespread in most locations right throughout the greater Hunter are going to see rain from this," said NBN Weather presenter Gavin Morris.

It'll be colder too, with a lack of sunshine, temperatures will fall into the low teens overnight and stay quite cool into next week.

"We've got a real lack of heating due to no sunshine. It's a big blanket of cloud. The winds are out of the north east and they're going to be getting moderately strong but generally, when you've got them out of the north it's not as cold, it's just due to the lack of heating as that rain band moves through," said Gavin Morris.

The rain couldn't have picked a worse weekend to come, with plenty of outdoor events planned for the weekend including the annual Lovedale Long Lunch in the Hunter Valley.

"There's a lot of outdoor activites that are on this weekend so if you've got one just be prepared for that rain. It's not one of those huge east coast lows and its not a massive weather event but it is going to be wet so the big tip is just be prepared for that wet weather," said Gavin Morris.

Hold onto your hats Newcastle, the winds are coming!

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A strong cold front is expected to sweep across NSW this afternoon after a relatively mild couple of days in Newcastle.

The Bureau of Meteorology have forecast northwesterly winds which are set to increase ahead of the front, before leaving a cold and gusty westerly in its wake.

Meteorologist Christopher Webb from the Williamtown Weather Office, says temperatures are expected to reach a maximum of 20 degrees today, before the cooler conditions hit.

"Much colder conditions to come for tomorrow, Thursday and Friday and also the winds will strengthen this afternoon ahead of that front and may reach gale force this evening and overnight and the front goes through."