A FREAK hailstorm that broke over Raglan early yesterday brought down awnings and shade sails, blocked dozens of gutters and left the whole village a sea of white.
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The storm hit about 8.30am and locals said the hail continued for about an hour.
By the time it stopped there was an eight-millimetre (three-inch) deep covering of hail across the village, leaving residents and State Emergency Service volunteers the task of cleaning up.
Do you have photos of the Raglan hail storm? Email them to editor.westernadvocate@ruralpress.com and we will share them with our readers
Children made snowballs and snowmen while their parents concentrated on unblocking gutters and cleaning out flooded garages and living rooms.
Bathurst SES controller Ian Borland said calls for assistance started coming through about 9am and the SES had three crews in Raglan by 10am.
A number of Kelso residents had also reported problems.
Mr Borland said most of the calls were a response to ice building up on roofs and in gutters.
“It’s mainly the flat roof houses that have had a problem,” he said.
“The ice builds up on the flat roof and then freezes there and can’t run off.
“You also have problems with gutters becoming blocked and then water leaking into the ceiling of the house.”
One resident who decided he could not wait for help was Beau Akroyd, who was standing on the roof of his Napoleon Street home and hosing off the ice when the Western Advocate drove past.
Mr Akroyd said the build-up of ice had seen water leak in to the ceiling and come down through the light fittings inside.
Long-time Raglan resident Ernie Holland said he had never seen anything like yesterday’s storm.
His large block on Nelson Street was completely covered in hail and he said there was damage to lino inside the house after his blocked gutters overflowed.
“I had been out for a bike ride but it started here about 7am,” Mr Holland said.
“I watched the storm just circle around and then come back and the hail just kept coming the whole time – it never stopped, even when the rain stopped.
“The funny thing was, though, I was talking to a mate at Glanmire when we in the middle of the storm and out there it was still sunny.”
Mr Holland said the hail was so deep his dogs’ bellies were dragging in it as they walked around his backyard.
“We built the house here in 1980 but I’ve never seen hail as continuous as this before,” he said.
“Normally you will get a sweep of hail and then it’s gone.”
The hail storm was the highlight in a weekend of wild weather.
Following a sunny start to Saturday, dark clouds started building across the region before the first rain came on Saturday night.
There were much heavier falls early yesterday, with the Bureau of Meteorology website showing about 40mm fell between 7.30-9am.
