ROBERT Hickey has seen some storms in his time but nothing like the mini-tornado that ripped through his property on Monday, tearing his house off its foundations and hurling parts of it up to 400 metres away.
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A wind estimated to be travelling at more than 100km/h lifted a caravan on the property, west of Marulan, into the air, turned it 90 degrees and dumped it back in a paddock.
Three partially full water tanks were ripped from the ground; two hit the house.
"I was a ship's captain in the merchant navy for 30 years and I've seen some pretty good storms, but nothing like this one," Mr Hickey said yesterday.
He and his wife, Alison, who operate the Meridian Cafe at Marulan, were inside their house on the Brayton Rd, 13km from Marulan on Monday when the tornado struck without warning at 2.30pm.
Alison had just finished washing the floor.
The next instant, piers were torn from underneath their western red cedar home, sending the house sliding six metres down a slight hill. The impact crashed a double glass timber framed door onto Mr Hickey, breaking his toe, while Mrs Hickey literally slid out the front door.
"I thought we would get killed," Mr Hickey said. "We had no idea what was happening."
Windows in two cars smashed with wind's impact and a third car was damaged as branches were torn from nearby trees.
Looking across the road he noticed a spiral of water reaching 200m high and spanning 20 metres. In less than five minutes, the tornado disappeared over the hill, leaving a trail of destruction, including uprooted trees.
Yesterday he described the house as a "complete mess" and estimated damage at more than $200,000. Timber flooring, a new kitchen and verandah were destroyed and the corrugated iron roof was hurled 350 metres away. Debris landed as far as 500 metres away.
"But that's okay - when we were sliding along the floor, I didn't think we were going to get out of it at all, so it puts it in perspective," Mr Hickey said.
They considered themselves very lucky that the storm occurred just hours before their insurance was due to expire.
The couple, originally from Sydney, built the house in 1996 but only moved onto the property full time in 2004.
Mrs Hickey said emergency help didn't arrive until three hours after the storm because their call was diverted to Crookwell volunteers, who then had to come via Goulburn.
Upper Lachlan SES controller Carmel Page said two crew helped tarp what remained of the house and its furniture.
"They were really shocked but also very lucky," she said.
The Hickeys will live in a guesthouse on the property until a new house is rebuilt.
