Tenterfield township was turned into what looked like a winter wonderland on Wednesday, September 26 when the heavens opened releasing a deluge of hail. Fortunately the hail stones weren’t too large, instead compacting to resemble a cover of snow over the town.
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For some parts of Tenterfield the evening hail storm was the second or third that day. The covering of ‘snow’ combined with council’s new street tree lighting did create a magical Christmas scene in the main street, but it wasn’t all fun and games for everyone.
Sheree Thrift was among those on Rouse Street photographing the comely scene when she turned around to discover it was raining heavily on the inside of her store, Sherelle’s Fashions. She believes hail in the gutters may have forced the water to backup, finding a path through the ceiling, light fittings and down the walls.
The shop ended up with two centimetres of water on the floor, as staff and helpers scrambled to rescue stock from harm’s way. Mrs Thrift said she hasn’t even assessed all the damage yet but they did manage to salvage more than she feared, so it could have been much worse.
Tenterfield Fire & Rescue were also kept running with three callouts at the height of the storm. Two – at the courthouse and Willowtown Tyre Service – were for alarms triggered by the storm. Before the crew could return to the station they received another call for a chimney fire, but the fire was able to be contained to the chimney.