Two Dead and Widespread Damage Reported as Severe Winds Tear Through Tasmania, Australia

A Wild Night Across Australia’s South-East

A powerful cold front tore across southern Australia on Friday, bringing down trees, cutting power to thousands of homes, and leaving two people dead in Tasmania’s north-west.
From Mount Gambier, South Australia, to Victoria’s rugged coastlines and deep into Tasmania, winds howled through the morning and into the night. Power poles snapped. Roofs lifted. Trees fell without warning.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that gusts between 100 and 110 kilometers per hour would continue across much of Tasmania through the afternoon before easing by evening. At Cape Grim, Tasmania’s north-west tip, one weather station recorded a fierce 122 kilometers per hour gust.

The same weather system stretched eastward, triggering alerts in Victoria, southern New South Wales, and parts of South Australia. It was one of the most widespread storm events of the spring so far.

Two Lives Lost in Tasmania’s North-West

On a quiet rural property near Devonport, Tasmania, tragedy struck just after midday. A large tree, loosened by saturated soil and violent gusts, came crashing down. Two people were killed instantly.

Acting Commander Brenda Orr from Tasmania Police said both victims were found at the scene. “It appears that the severe weather has resulted in a tree falling on private property, resulting in the death of those two people. No other people have been injured," she said.

Emergency crews arrived within minutes, but there was little they could do. “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones at this difficult time," police said later in a statement.

Chaos Across the Island

By dawn, Tasmania was already under siege. Winds tore through the north-west, cutting electricity to entire neighborhoods. In Burnie, Devonport, and Wynyard, power lines were tangled across roads, and residents woke to find fences flattened and windows shattered.

Energy provider TasNetworks reported that more than 20,000 properties were without power at the height of the storm. By the afternoon, around 13,000 were still disconnected. Crews fanned out across the island, but progress was slow.

“Our crews are extremely committed, but can only work in safe conditions—considering wind, lightning, fatigue, and available light," a spokesperson said. Some repairs, they warned, might take up to three days.

Chris Irvine from Tasmania’s State Emergency Service said calls for help were nonstop. “We’ve had one instance of a residence losing its entire roof in the north-west region," he said. “Most of the requests have related to windows being blown out of residential and commercial buildings."

In total, the SES handled more than seventy emergency calls on Friday alone.

Hospitals and Homes Take a Hit

At the Mersey Community Hospital in Latrobe, near Devonport, water poured through ceilings after heavy rain and strong winds tore at the roof. The hospital issued an internal emergency alert as ambulances were diverted to Burnie and Launceston.

“The community can be assured that the hospital is safe and fully operational," said Dale Webster from Tasmania’s Department of Health. “All patient-facing areas of the hospital that were impacted have now been resolved."

Tasmania’s Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Felix Ellis, said the hospital was operating at reduced capacity for several hours but returned to normal by late afternoon.

Elsewhere, a section of a brick wall from a third-storey building in Burnie collapsed onto the street below. Near Legana, snapped power poles blocked a rural highway. And in Hobart, Tasmania’s capital, the road to the summit of Mount Wellington was closed after a tree crashed across it overnight.

Transport and Flight Disruptions

Public transport and aviation were also hit. Derwent Ferries, which runs a service between Hobart’s CBD and Bellerive, suspended operations early Friday morning. At Devonport Airport, all Qantas flights were cancelled due to strong crosswinds.

Travelers stranded at the terminal described scenes of confusion as wind rattled windows and rain lashed the tarmac. “You could barely stand outside," said one passenger from Launceston. “The gusts were strong enough to lift branches and send debris flying."

Flood Watches and Ongoing Warnings

Even as winds began to ease, the Bureau of Meteorology warned that Tasmania was not yet in the clear. Flood watches were issued for the River Derwent, the Meander River, the Huon River, and the North Esk River, with additional rainfall expected through Saturday.

Alex Melitsis, a senior meteorologist with BoM, said conditions were improving but urged caution. “The worst of the weather has now passed, but strong gusts and heavy showers will persist through the evening before gradually subsiding overnight."

Emergency services echoed that warning. “Members of the public should take all precautions for their own personal safety and be aware of the potential for falling trees and branches," said Chris Irvine.

Communities Shaken, But Resilient

Across the north, residents emerged from homes to survey the damage. Fallen trees blocked driveways. Yards were littered with roofing iron and broken glass.

A resident from Devonport, Tasmania, described the night: “You could hear the wind roaring all night long. It was like a freight train. Power went out before midnight, and by morning the whole street was dark. Trees were everywhere. It was frightening."

Despite the destruction, locals helped one another—sharing generators, clearing debris, and checking on neighbors.

The Storm Moves East

By late Friday, the weather system had drifted toward the Tasman Sea, leaving behind a trail of damage but sparing mainland Australia the worst. Still, Victoria’s east and southern New South Wales faced gusty conditions into the night.

In Melbourne, Victoria, commuters battled rain and wind on their evening journey home. In Mount Gambier, South Australia, fallen trees briefly blocked several roads.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the system would weaken over the weekend, but new fronts were expected next week. For Tasmania, the message was clear—after a night of destruction, more unsettled weather could still lie ahead.