A Dubbo resident has told of her family's terror as a tree was thrown through their house, missing them by just metres as a tornado cut a trail of destruction across the city's eastern edge.
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The freak storm left a number of houses damaged, trees uprooted and left residents reeling in disbelief.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she and her family heard a loud roar just after 5pm and looked outside to see a tornado coming over the hill towards their house.
She said they ran into a hallway to take shelter and were showered with plasterboard and branches as the tree pierced the roof, went through one of the children's bedrooms and made a hole in the outside wall.
The family, though badly shaken, escaped without injury.
"It missed us by a few feet. We got hit by cornice and plasterboard but we were so lucky. God was looking down on us," she said.
"It damaged the children's bedrooms and also took out the double carport but we were fairly lucky. There are people with houses a lot more damaged than ours.
"To see the damage it has done, it's amazing that everyone has walked away."
The woman said it was hard to believe the scale of damage caused.
"Everybody has something in their yard that doesn't belong to them. There is debris everywhere and all of the tall trees in our yard are gone. I don't know where the tree came from that hit our house, it wasn't ours and it wasn't our neighbour's," she said.
"It missed us by a few feet. We got hit by cornice and plasterboard but we were so lucky. God was looking down on us."
Dubbo Local Area Command Inspector Dan Skelly said there were no reports of injuries but that a large number of houses had been damaged as the tornado moved from Mugga Hill to Firgrove.
"I can confirm there were no injuries, I don't know about stock losses but there has been substantial damage caused to houses and property," Inspector Skelly said.
"Residents are quite shocked and being night, they have no power and no lighting. People had heard reports and are coming home to damaged houses and in darkness.
Inspector Skelly said Essential Energy had a number of crews working to restore power but supply had been interrupted in several places.
Dubbo State Emegency Services regional controller David Monk said the SES started receiving calls after 5.30pm to properties in the Mugga Hill area.
"It cut a path about 200 metres wide with another 100 metres either side showing debris," Mr Monk said.
"It appears to have hit Mugga Hill and has gone down towards Richmond Estate.
"It's a severe wind. It is capable of bringing down trees and damaging property. You can call them tornados, they look almost like a water spout and suck a lot of air in. They are normally very localised and happen out in the open but if you get trees or anything else in it's path, that's when they can make a mess."
Christian Dess visited his cousin's property at Mugga Hill, where a shed had been ripped apart by the tornado and tiles torn off the roof of the house. He said a neighbour's trampoline had ended up in the trees of the property.
"The damage is just unbelievable. It has left a trail of destruction and, there are trees down everywhere and the shed is just a twisted mess," he said.
