Worst storm on record damages homes,

trees, powerlines at Port Pirie

December 2025 Thousands of residents were faced with outages in the South Australian town of Port Pirie after a severe thunderstorm and hail destroyed roofs as well as bringing down trees and powerlines. The State Emergency Services (SES) said they received 170 calls for help in 12 hours after wind gusts of 119 kilometres per hour were recorded in the town after 8pm on Saturday. SES acting chief officer Kirsty Phelps said the organisation was taken by surprise but has since deployed 165 volunteers to the Mid North town in response to about 350 call-outs. SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the "severe storm cell" accompanied by a large quantity of hail was "sudden" and "not anticipated by the Bureau of Meteorology". "This was a severe storm, it is a demonstration that mother nature can be very unpredictable," Mr Malinauskas said. "We saw wind gusts of up to 120 km/h spiked then very quickly turned back to normal levels." He said at least two houses had "substantial damage" but the majority of wreckage was caused by fallen trees. SA Power Networks external affairs manager Cecilia Schutz said a strong and short storm cell caused significant damage, bringing down up to 50 power lines in and around Port Pirie. At its peak, about 4,900 households were without power. "We had over a dozen poles and associated infrastructure either pushed over or completely brought out off the ground," Ms Schutz said. "So this is an hour in the Port Pirie area, a very high level of damage … a level of damage we didn't predict." Ms Schutz said 72 SA Power Networks crews as well as contractors were on the ground working on restoring power, with the majority getting their lights back on Sunday night.

Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia