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Tornado rips through NSW south coast, causing damage around Ulladulla

Read the original at ABC News (AU) ↗
Cite

Werthmuller, D. (2026, October 3). Tornado rips through NSW south coast, causing damage around Ulladulla. ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-03/tornado-tears-through-ulladulla-in-nsw-south-coast/107225262

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-10-03 · by Digby Werthmuller

Quick Summary

A tornado struck parts of New South Wales' south coast around Ulladulla on Thursday afternoon, causing significant damage. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed a severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 1pm for damaging winds, large hailstones, and heavy rainfall. Over 90 calls for assistance were received by the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), including 29 in Ulladulla alone. Crews are addressing issues such as roofs being torn off homes, dislodged tiles and skylights, fallen trees, and power outages. The SES has established an incident management team in Ulladulla to coordinate response efforts.
Written by AI on 2026-10-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 3, a rare tornado swept through Ulladulla, a town on the NSW South Coast in Australia, causing significant damage. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the event and warned of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hailstones, and heavy rainfall affecting areas including Sydney, Wollongong, Penrith, and Katoomba. Witnesses like Ulladulla mother Wishaya La Spina filmed the tornado while in her car with her baby, describing it as "pretty scary." The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) received over 90 calls for assistance across the state, including 29 around Ulladulla, where 15 properties were impacted; more than half a dozen homes sustained severe damage and two became uninhabitable. Fallen trees and powerlines, as well as road blockages due to debris, further complicated recovery efforts. Despite the extensive damage, no injuries were reported, highlighting the swift response of local emergency services and volunteers.

Written for “Tornado Hits Ulladulla” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tornado Hits Ulladulla
Environment · 5 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Rare tornado whips through small Australian town Same event
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 68/100
Tornado leaves 'devastating' trail of damage in Ulladulla Same event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 27 claims Outlet record 68/100
‘It was crazy’: Tornado sweeps through Ulladulla as severe storms hit the state Same event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 12 claims Outlet record 61/100
Pacific hurricane systems send tornadoes, flooding to southern, central U.S. Different event
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different tornado events occurring on different days in different regions (U.S. vs Australia).”
A mini tornado has struck a town on the NSW South Coast Same event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 61/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
9
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 9 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Environment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 4729 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Digby Werthmuller
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 One expert told the ABC there were questions surrounding how the extra supply needed from data centre usage would be replaced.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Concerns as new $1.2b recycling facility will service data centres
🔮 An SES incident management team has been set up in Ulladulla, with crews from nearby Nowra — which has received close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9am— and surrounding areas responding. The SES expects calls for assistance to increase, with severe thunderstorms expected to continue into the evening.
2026-10-03 · assertive framing · Tornado rips through NSW south coast, causing damage around Ulladulla
🔮 Woman who killed her two sons in the Blue Mountains found not criminally responsible In short: A Blue Mountains woman who stabbed her two sons to death has been found not criminally responsible. The deaths of the boys, aged nine and 11, came after the the children were found by their father in the family home. What's next? The woman will now be detained in a location to be determined by the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
2026-09-17 · assertive framing · Woman who stabbed sons to death found not criminally responsible
🔮 In short: Sydney Water is proposing a new facility at Camellia-Rosehill which would flush 70 million litres of treated wastewater into Parramatta River.
2026-09-05 · assertive framing · Proposal to pump 70m litres of treated wastewater into Parramatta River
Also by Digby Werthmuller
Concerns as new $1.2b recycling facility will service data centres
2026-10-05 · ABC News (AU)
Woman who stabbed sons to death found not criminally responsible
2026-09-17 · ABC News (AU)
Proposal to pump 70m litres of treated wastewater into Parramatta River
2026-09-05 · ABC News (AU)
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

New South Wales SES The Bureau of Meteorology The NSW State Emergency Service Ulladulla

Subjects

SES ORG · 3× Ulladulla GPE · 3× New South Wales GPE · 1× Nowra GPE · 1× The Bureau of Meteorology ORG · 1× The NSW State Emergency Service ORG · 1×

Narrative

An SES incident management team has been set up in Ulladulla, with crews from nearby Nowra — which has received close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9am— and surrounding areas responding. The SES expects calls for assistance to increase, with severe thunderstorms expected to continue into the evening.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-04
🔮 An SES incident management team has been set up in Ulladulla, with crews from nearby Nowra — which has received close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9am— and surrounding areas responding. The SES expects calls for assistance to increase, with severe thunderstorms expected to continue into the evening.
2026-10-04 · ABC News (AU)
Tornado rips through NSW south coast, causing damage around Ulladulla · assertive framing

Claims (9 extracted, 0 hedged)

A tornado has torn through parts of the New South Wales south coast, causing significant damage around Ulladulla. asserted
tornado → tear → Ulladulla
Just after 1pm today, the region was issued with a severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall. asserted
region → issue → winds
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed a tornado did move through the area, describing the event as "very unusual". asserted
tornado → confirm → event
Vision shows the rotating column of air making its way across a residential area. asserted
column → show → area
In other vision from outside a local cafe, staff can be seen scrambling to remove tables and chairs before heavy rain and strong winds sweep through violently, sending umbrellas flying. asserted
umbrellas → see → tables
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) said they had received more than 90 calls for assistance across the state, including 29 around Ulladulla. asserted
they → say → Ulladulla
Crews are responding to roofs being ripped from homes, dislodged tiles and skylights, and fallen trees and powerlines. asserted
roofs → respond → homes
Dozens of properties have also being hit with power outages. asserted
Dozens → hit → outages
An SES incident management team has been set up in Ulladulla, with crews from nearby Nowra — which has received close to 17 millimetres of rain since 9am— and surrounding areas responding. The SES expects calls for assistance to increase, with severe thunderstorms expected to continue into the evening. asserted
thunderstorms → set → evening
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