By PHILIP CULLEN
10aug00

SUNBURY residents counted the cost yesterday of a freak tornado which cut a swathe of destruction through their usually quiet neighborhood.

The devastating storm sent roof tiles hurtling like missiles, blasted windows and tore to shreds a $3million basketball stadium as 60 children were playing.

It touched the ground for less than 12 minutes on Tuesday night, but caused millions of dollars of damage as wind up to 150kmh whipped across Melbourne.

Weather experts described it as freakish and said it was similar in size to one which damaged Rochester homes just over a month ago.

The SES, weather bureau and residents said it was a miracle no one was seriously injured.

Sunbury SES unit controller Ed Wolny said the tornado shot debris 40 metres in the air and blew it up to 1km as it swept through like a roller coaster.

"I've been a volunteer here for 18 years and this is the worst I have ever seen," he said.

The severe storm continued to wreak havoc in Airport West, Tullamarine, Essendon and even Toorak and South Yarra as it passed through the city.

Three children were alone in their Benaud Place home in Sunbury as the tornado struck.

Jay Boyle, 11, was minding his brother Tim, 9, and sister Zoe, 6, while his father briefly left home with his four-year-old daughter to collect his wife from the shops.

"There was wood flying around and the house started to shake," Jay said.

Tim said: "I saw all this wood flying through the window. It was pretty much a tornado."

Zoe said the TV flickered out before she heard a loud crash.

"I was crying then, the light turned off and there was pitch black. Then it went darker and darker," she said.

"The tiles went off and now we have got a hole in the roof."

Father Vince, mother Lisa and sister Lucy, 4, returned home minutes later.

"We pulled up in the driveway and the kids' bikes were all over the driveway and I thought they hadn't put them away," Mrs Boyle said.

"I had a look and the back fence had fallen over. You just think it doesn't happen here."

Builder Mitchell Potulic sprinted across Noble Way and crouched beside a brick house as sheets of metal from the basketball stadium whizzed over his head.

"It was twisting like anything. You could hear the wind, gushing, gushing, gushing and I just said 'Run mate, forget about the rest'," he said.

Further down the street, Karen Ellis said she initially thought a light aircraft had crashed.

"It was a really hard whirling noise, like a motor. The noise was deafening," she said.

"When I looked out the back window there was just a fireball in the sky and there were things flying out of it which was metal. Then I saw these sheets of tin flying straight towards me.

"The tin just sliced the back fence like butter."

Neighbor Dwayne Williams was with his newborn daughter, his wife and her parents when the storm tore through his home.

His father-in-law, Darryl Anthonisz, 54, yesterday underwent surgery on his hand which was badly cut when the window he was peering through blew in.

"I opened the front door and it blew out of my hands. I eventually got it closed and saw a lot of debris in the meantime," Mr Williams said.

"We all ran into the kitchen and huddled beside the refrigerator – it was the biggest item in there.

"The dogs were in the kennel at the time because they are afraid of lightning and the kennel flew halfway across the yard with them in it."

His double-storey house was one of the worst hit.

"We knew the storm was coming, the lightning was very close and it just hit so quick, as soon as it came it left."

The storm has jeopardised the opening of a restaurant at the Andraos Brothers' Olde Winilba bluestone winery planned for this weekend.

A 150-year-old, 20m pine tree was uprooted and more than a dozen mature olive trees were scattered across the vineyard.

Managing director Fred Andraos estimated the damage to rows of vines and trellis at more than $10,000. In Airport West, a factory was extensively damaged and several homes unroofed by the storm.

Resident Nick Tomkinson said debris flew everywhere at the height of the wind. "There were trees, obviously the corrugated iron ... unbelievable stuff," he said.

Terrified dogs and cats that fled their homes during the height of the storm still have not returned home and residents reported chickens being swept to their deaths by the wind.