Tornado tears through Hunter Valley

A video has captured the moment a twister ripped through an estate in Australia’s Hunter Valley, damaging vines and flattening an equipment shed.

Photo: Keith Tulloch Wines

Filmed by Keith Tulloch of Keith Tulloch Wines, the footage shows the twister tearing though his property on Sunday afternoon, causing damage to 100 vines and destroying an equipment shed, as reported by the Sunday Morning Herald. 

Alisdair Tulloch, marketing manager for Keith Tulloch Wines, said cellar door staff were alerted to the extreme weather when they were pelted with fruit on the second floor of the winery.

Describing the scene, Alisdair said: “They looked up and they saw a spiral vortex, which then started to touch down into the vineyard on the other side of the winery.”

After securing furniture staff watched on as the twister touched down in the vineyard ripping through a “couple of hundred metres” of vines.

“It started off by uprooting a few trees and then in touched down in the vineyard,” Mr Tulloch said. “We’ve lost probably 100 to 150 vines along a stretch close to 200 metres long.”

Most damage was caused to one corner of the property – a Semillon vineyard planted almost 50 years ago. Thankfully the harvest has recently taken place meaning that no fruit was lost from this year’s vintage.

“It should all be looking at a full recovery but unfortunately old vines are something that take a very long time to recreate”, Tulloch said.