19-05-2025
Wild moment a freak wind gust wreaks absolute havoc at the weekend markets
A popular weekend market descended into chaos when a 'crazy' weather event wreaked havoc.
Small business owner Seriya Blackmore was selling baby clothes at a market in the Riverina town of Muttama in southern NSW on Sunday when a dust devil blew away her stall.
Dramatic footage showed a strong gust of wind forming among the market stalls before Ms Blackmore's gazebo was flung into air.
Baby clothes were also seen becoming airborne as shocked attendees, including young children, watched on on horror.
The freak weather event was all over within several seconds.
'It was crazy, it came all of a sudden and everyone was doing the best they could to hold their tents,' Ms Blackmore told ABC Riverina Breakfast.
'It wasn't even that windy.'
Good Samaritan bystanders rushed to Ms Blackmore's aid.
One man managed to grab the airborne gazebo before it flew away before others helped the business owner secure the structure.
Other passers-by cleaned the clothes off.
'Lots of people came over and still bought some things and were saying they were sorry and glad that I set back up,' Ms Blackmore added.
'The power of it was insane! So sorry to see all of your beautiful clothes and stall be damaged from this.'
Ms Blackmore shared the footage on the Facebook page of her business, children's clothing brand Lil Puppet.
'Unfortunately some markets don't go as planned….. or maybe the whirly wind was just giving me some free advertising,' the footage was captioned.
The post was inundated with comments from locals who were at the markets at the time.
'I ran across and yelled 'hold your tents' and was holding onto the blue one next to the white one that went up,' Joanna Lee wrote.
Ms Blackmore replied: 'I tried yelling at a guy to help me grab a pole when I saw it coming but he just walked away.
'Another guy, as you can see the video grabbed a pole just in time and was able to hold it best he could! So grateful to everyone who helped.'
The rotating column of air picks up dust and debris from the ground, and usually forms in hot, dry conditions.
'I was there and it was crazy but so nice to see everyone helping each other!' They wrote.
'So glad you stayed after and were able to rebuild the stall! Was absolutely crazy! And fingers crossed you got all the clothes back,' another market-goer added.
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed and short-lived whirlwind.
Dust devils can damage homes and buildings, throwing objects and downing trees.
They are common in dry places such as Arizona, New Mexico and eastern California.
In recent years, dust devils have been recorded in Canberra and remote areas of Western Australia.
