Hailstorm Wallops Australia With ‘Golf Ball Sized’ Hailstones Amid Bushfires

Jan 22, 2020 by apost team

Hailstorms walloped Southeastern Australia this week as bushfires continue to devastate parts of the country.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the capital city of Australia Canberra experienced an extreme hailstorm with gusts of over 70 miles per hour and hailstones the size of golf balls.

The storm has since caused much damage including smashed windows, dents in cars, and localized flooding. Areas in the city are said to have also experienced power outages due to the storm, with over 1,000 homes left without power.

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One resident, Hilary Wardhaugh, told the publication the storm was an “unbelievable sight.” 

"It was like Armageddon, basically," she said. "There were people running into the library but I'm really hoping that there's no one caught out in it."

"It really only lasted 10 minutes and the amount of damage that it caused was truly unbelievable," she added.

Wardhaugh, who was at the library at the time, posted footage of the aftermath of the storm on her Twitter account which showed many cars damaged by the massive hailstones. 

Josh Butler, a journalist for Australian publication 10daily, also took to Twitter to post two side-by-side photos of the parliament that showed a stark contrast within 15 days. The photo on the left showed the Australian Parliament on January 5 with an orange sky behind it, surrounded by smoke and haze from the near-by bushfires. The second photo shows the parliament on January 20 surrounded by the golf-sized hailstones. 

Destructive as they might have been, heavy rainfall and storms have provided some relief for authorities who are struggling to contain the bushfires in Australia. Dozens of uncontrolled fires are still ravaging Victoria and New South Wales at this time however, according to the New York Times. 

Would you be relieved of the hailstorm if you were in Australia? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!