A violent thunderstorm cut a path of destruction through the Tenterden area on Wednesday December 5 with strong winds, torrential rain and some reports of hail. Peter Baxter of “Balook” said that 45mm of rain fell in just 25 minutes. “I could see the storm approaching and knew it was going to be savage” said Mr Baxter. The storm struck at 7.45pm with wind gusts up to 105km an hour being recorded. A combination of extremely wet ground and strong winds saw trees uprooted in the wake of the storm. As well as the trees, numerous fences were washed away and Mr Baxter has spent the past week repairing the damage. Rainfall totalling 300mm has fallen on Mr Baxter’s property since the storms started rolling in late November.

Other reports from the Tenterden area of damage have been widespread. Betty and David Cameron reported damage to the properties “Kipsie” and “East Gowrie” with 56mm of rain recorded and trees and power lines down across a wide area. Betty told the Argus that the full extent of the damage is hard to assess. “We can’t get across the creek and it too wet to drive anywhere” she said.

Wendy Baxter said that the storm uprooted more than 200 trees on “Marimba” in an area about two kilometres wide and, as well as washing away fences. “Trees weren’t just uprooted they were twisted about by tornado like winds” she said.

Perhaps the luckiest were the Neilsen family at “Winterville”. One large tree that was uprooted managed to fall neatly between the dog kennels and the workshop.

Fallen power lines proved to be a problem for Country Energy with reports that five vehicles were bogged in an effort to restore power.

This is but one of a series of storms that have resulted in record rainfall across the area. Guyra has received 171.2 mm since the beginning of December and storms are expected to continue for at least the next week.