The forecast was for hail, but what hit parents waiting in cars for their kids at pick-up time was much more than that.
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On Friday, February 3, Erwin Enriquez was waiting in the family car to collect his seven-year-old son Malakai from St Joseph's Primary School in Port Macquarie on NSW's North Coast.
"It's not usual [to rain] at school pick-up," he told the Port News. "It had rained the day before, so I thought nothing of it."
Mr Enriquez moved his car under a tree because the weather forecast said it might hail.
It did. And much more.
Parents were stuck in their cars as the storm, since called a microburst, roared into town.
Branches fell; the rain was so heavy drivers could barely see; the wind was deafening; and then windows started to crack. It even felt like cars were going to be blown away.
"I think I was in disbelief that it was happening. It was literally starting to lift the car off the ground," Mr Enriquez said.
Then parents rushed to help one another. Some were stuck in their cars because branches had come down, or they were simply too shaken to move.
Amazingly, no one was seriously injured.
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Principal, Troy Baker, kept all the children inside until the danger had passed.
"The teachers in St Joseph's, and the principal himself, kept the parents informed of what was going on. They released the kids only after the fire brigade had made the school safe. It was very organised."
Some of the damaged cars could be driven away, others were later towed.
While Mr Enriquez said his son was initially excited about the storm, seeing the reality of the damage was unsettling.
