27-05-2025
Thousands without power after SA hit by high tides, wind gusts and heavy rainfall
Thousands of South Australian households and businesses are without power as the clean-up continues after the gusty winds, high rainfalls and high tides that lashed most of the state yesterday.
Wind gusts of up to 126 kilometres per hour were recorded on Monday, as well as sea levels up to 4.6 metres above the lowest astronomical tide expected at Port Pirie.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said areas of the state recorded up to 40 millimetres of rain, with the highest totals recorded on the Mount Lofty Ranges.
The high tides and storm surge have damaged a number of jetties across the state, including at Normanville, where the pontoon yesterday also washed up onto the shore.
Downed powerlines have forced the closure of Sacred Heart College's Marcellin campus in Somerton Park.
The school wrote on Facebook that the campus would be closed from today until further notice.
"Marcellin Campus is currently without power due to significant damage from last night's storm. Powerlines are down on Cudmore Street which poses a significant safety risk," the post read.
Senior BOM forecaster Simon Timcke told ABC Radio Adelaide conditions should ease today, but wind gusts had caused damage across the state.
"The dust was quite an amazing feature, watching it on the satellite picture … a very widespread area of dust. Then it pushed into north-western Victoria and that persisted for a good part of the day," he said.
"I'm sure [it was] some welcome rainfall but the winds, perhaps, [were] not so welcome.
"We saw very strong and gusty winds around most of the agricultural area yesterday, with some pretty big gusts, a lot of places picking up gusts in the 80-100kph [area], so there is quite a lot of tree damage and debris around as a result of that.
"We're certainly in the easing mode, but I think once everybody gets up and surveys the damage from yesterday there will be quite a bit around.
"Those elevated tides really causing some pretty amazing scenes across the coastal fringe there too."
Peter Oliver, who runs a cafe at Hindmarsh Island, said he was "astounded" by the damage.
"It was probably the worst storm we've seen here in probably 10 or more years … lots of damage," he said.
"The tide has come up super fast, faster than I've ever seen.
"All the jetties are underwater. My neighbour's jetty has been smashed into pieces."
Patricia from Cambray, 17km from Walker's Flat, told ABC Radio Adelaide the area had recorded 24.8mm of rain all year, with 13mm of that falling just yesterday.
"It was horrendous. I come from Queensland and I thought I was in a cyclone," she said.
"It was so bad, you couldn't see in front of you. I had dust all over the place and I actually went to check the sheep troughs and I had three inches of mud, which I tried to clean out so I could get proper water to them."
Michael from Monash told ABC Radio Adelaide it was the worst dust storm he had seen since the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983, with visibility down to "30 or 40 metres".
"We get the odd one here or there that might last for an hour … but not to this extent," he said.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions says it could take up to a week to know whether yesterday's strong winds were enough to break up the algal bloom.
Since March an algal bloom caused by warmer-than-average sea temperatures has been choking the ocean along the Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the Yorke Peninsula south coast.
Oceanography lead Mark Doubell said satellite images would be used to survey the algal bloom once the clouds had cleared.
"I think it's going to take several days [and] up to potentially a week to be really certain [the algae has dispersed].
"And, of course, water sampling is being taken to confirm the presence of the algae and its concentration, but that also takes several days to turn around."
