SES volunteers have worked throughout the night to provide assistance to households after the sudden and intense hail storm that hit Port Macquarie on Monday afternoon, November 28.
The Port Macquarie SES Unit had received over 100 call outs within two hours, with the number of jobs climbing to 133 on Tuesday, November 29.
Hail stones the size of golf balls pummelled certain parts of town, with Innes Lake and Lighthouse Beach the hardest hit.
Some areas of the Camden Haven were also affected, with the SES called to just over 10 jobs in the area.
Port Macquarie SES Unit Michael Ward said crews worked late into the night to get to more than 70 jobs.
"The 48 outstanding jobs will be dealt with today (Tuesday)," he said.
Many of the call outs have been to damaged and leaking roofs.
"The most predominant issue is busted skylights and leaking roofs," Mr Ward said.
Innes Lake hit the hardest
Mr Ward described the storm as a "horizontal band" which hit an isolated area of town including Innes Lake, Crestwood and the Lighthouse Beach area.
Cars, roofs, solar panels and caravans have all been damaged by the intense hail.
Innes Lake resident Claudia Mccallum described the storm as "brutal".
"I was in my room at home and my mum said something had smashed next door, so we went outside and it was just hail everywhere," she said.
Ms Mccallum and her family were among the many whose cars were damaged by the hail.
"We were running out in the storm trying to get blankets on the cars and all I heard was my windscreen shattering," she said.
Ms Mccallum's partner's car was also damaged, as well as her friend's new car.
"My mum's car was damaged too, but everyone we have spoken to has said my car is the only one they've heard of that had its windscreen smashed."
They are now going through the process of getting the damage assessed through their insurance company.
"It was a pretty crazy storm. Innes Lake just got hammered."
The Nature School clean-up
The Nature School, located on The Ruins Way, was also hit hard by the storm.
Principal Catherine Shaw said trees were "stripped by the hail" and "debris was everywhere" on the school grounds.
A call out to help with the clean-up was answered by over 12 parents.
"We had a group of parents turn up with rakes and shovels on Monday afternoon to help us clean-up so the students could return to school on Tuesday," Ms Shaw said.
"The school hasn't been damaged. We just have a bit of leaking and some of the outside furniture has been damaged."
All of the teacher's cars that were parked at the school were also damaged by the hail.
"It was some pretty severe hail. But we're just grateful the students and teachers are safe," Ms Shaw said.
Providing assistance
Local SES crews are being assisted by Rural Fire Service (RFS), Fire and Rescue and out of town SES crews to ensure they get to each job as quickly as possible.
"They hit it pretty hard last night and got through over 70 of the jobs," Mr Ward said.
"What we've been providing is emergency repairs. Things like broken skylights involves us putting tarps or plastic over it to make it weather-proof which gives people time to get a contractor in to fix it.
"The difficult part is going to be for people getting these things fixed at this time of year."
The SES is reminding people to call 132 500 to lodge a request for assistance and to call as early as possible so crews can prioritise jobs.
"We've got out of area crews in town and they will need to go home eventually, so please get your job logged so that we can get to everyone and put you on the list," Mr Ward said.
This is also a timely reminder for residents to be storm ready.
"We're in storm season now and the long-range forecast from The Bureau is that we're expecting this season to be the same as the last couple of years, so we're expecting above average rainfall," Mr Ward said.
"It is a good reminder for people to go through and undertake required works at their home."
Thanking emergency services
Mr Ward said seeing the response from all emergency services following the storm has been "wonderful".
"A huge thanks goes to all of our emergency services partners who have jumped in and are helping out," he said.
"The guys and girls have just stood up and jumped in to get everything happening. They're doing a wonderful job.
"Our purpose is to save lives and create safer communities and they're doing a great job now responding to what happened on Monday."
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