More wild weather to hit parts of SA after storms down trees, knock out power

The SES responded to almost 100 call-outs last night as wild weather hit – with warnings of more strong winds today.

The SES received almost 100 call outs overnight. Picture: Mark Brake

About 11,000 homes and business were left without power and the SES responded to more than 120 call-outs since midnight Friday as wild weather hit – with winds expected to persist in some areas into the evening.

The state was battered by rain and winds throughout Friday evening and Saturday morning with gusts ranging from 60-80km/h in southern parts of the state.

Some coastal areas – such as Port Lincoln and Cape Willoughby – had gusts eclipse 100km/h while it reached 135km/h at Neptune Island.

And there’s a forecast for more thunderstorms and high winds on Sunday in the Lower South East.

Bureau of Meteorologist senior forecaster Mark Anolak said a severe weather warning remained in place for the much of South Australia.

“We were expecting damaging winds and that’s what we saw, particularly over the agricultural parts of the state and throughout the Adelaide Hills,” he said.

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“That was brought about by the passage of a couple of cold fronts.”

He said Adelaide had more than 10mm rainfall since 12am last night.

“Up in the Hills, rainfall totals ranged from 10-20mm,” he said.

He said winds would continue to impact those on – and east – of the ranges, though winds are expected to ease this evening.

“We expect it to remain windy for most of the day and ease in the late afternoon,” he said.

Clive Littlejohns with his dog Bella as SES volunteers tackle trees the came down over his driveway. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

SES State Duty Officer Kane Murray said most of the call outs overnight were for fallen tree branches and property damage.

“It covered quite a wide area, from up in the Mid North, Murraylands, Adelaide Metro, Mt Lofty Ranges and the South East as well,” he said.

“The most severe weather has probably been through the Mount Lofty Ranges.

There was still a chance of destructive winds impacting that area on Saturday evening.

Mr Murray said his crews had done a fantastic job attending more than 120 call-outs.

“Our guys live for this sort of stuff and we were at a heightened level of preparedness to ensure we could do the job,” he said.

“We had extra staff on and made sure everyone was equipped to carry out what they needed to do.”

Clive Littlejohns, 61, said he was fortunate that his car escaped serious damage after two large tree branches fell onto his Holden Commodore at Port Willunga.

“The SES extracted my car from two tonnes of tree branches but I was very lucky, the damage is negligible,” he said.

Mr Littlejohns said wind gusts had battered the area in the past 24 hours.

A top of 16C is expected for Adelaide on Sunday, with showers easing in the evening.

SES volunteers remove a tree from atop Clive Littlejohns’ Hoden Commodore. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

A vet clinic at Fullarton had a nasty shock when wet weather and high winds caused a tree to be uprooted, landing on the building. Picture: 7News

Mr Murray urged people to remain vigilant throughout the coming days, particularly those travelling for the school holidays.

“Take care on the roads as there may be trees or debris about the place,” he said.

“Also don’t camp under trees.”

There were fresh flood warnings in place for the Onkaparinga River on Saturday.

“There is chance of increased water levels in some areas, so don’t drive through floodwaters,” Mr Murray said.

Mr Anolak said there would be some showers throughout next week.

“There will be some rain here and there next week, but we’re not expecting a wet week,” he said. “The worst of the showers came overnight.”