TWO people had to be rescued and several homeowners are counting the cost after powerful storms left a trail of destruction through the New England.
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It was almost a white Christmas in North Tamworth as hail fell on Christmas Eve as a storm rolled through, while further north at Llangothlin, north of Guyra, hail up to the ankles of emergency services covered the road.
The slippery storm sparked a warning to motorists rushing to get to Christmas to take caution on the New England Highway.
Several homes in Armidale on the South Hill were inundated on Friday night after reports of up to 80mm fell in the space of an hour.
The SES were called to almost 30 jobs for help. Namoi Region Deputy Controller Heath Stimson told The Leader the deluge of rain in Armidale put roads under water very quickly.
“There was two cars that have entered floodwaters unsuccessfully in Dumaresq Creek in Armidale and needed to be rescued by SES crews and police,” he said.
“One we understand had a child in the backseat, so it just shows how dangerous driving through floodwaters can be and it’s an example of people who are willing to put themselves at risk as well as family.”
Armidale resident Phil Williams and his family had a nasty shock to Christmas after 80mm fell in their rain gauge on South Hill.
“There was a lot of heavy rain on South Hill and they’ve just had all this water run down and the stormwater drains couldn’t cope, so of course it’s flowed through my parent’s block and through their house,” he said.
“The carpet is completely destroyed and it’s touch and go with the appliances, some of them are questionable, we could smell electrical motors burning so we took the power off but we still don't know the damage.
“The water flowed through the house for about half an hour, and a lot of debris like rocks and sand and silt and mud was everywhere.
“Mum and dad have lived in the street for 40-odd years and never had a storm like this before.”
On Friday night more than 355 residents lost power in Armidale while almost 700 customers had no electricity in Moore Creek after lightning strikes.
“We’ve had four or five jobs in Tmworth for water damage-related incidents and trees down and in Gunnedah we've got some roof damage and trees down,” Mr Stimson said.