View
comments
A roof has collapsed at a busy shopping centre as severe thunderstorms and heavy rain battered Australia's east coast.
Dramatic footage uploaded to TikTok on Tuesday afternoon, shows the moment shoppers run for cover as the roof caved in at Penrith HomeCo shopping centre.
Shoppers and retail workers had to be evacuated from the western Sydney shopping centre while fire rescue crews attended the scene.
Heavy rainfall has caused a roof collapse at Penrith HomeCo shopping centre in Sydney's west on Tuesday
Retail worker Georgia Davis told Daily Mail Australia staff were sweeping rainwater from the entrance when the roof suddenly collapsed from the downpour.
'I finished my shift and was leaving and all this water was coming in through the doors,' she said.
'There were workers mopping up all the water so people could could walk in and out and as I was filming the whole roof just basically collapsed.
'No one was injured but it was still pretty scary.'
Sydney is being smashed by giant hail, as damaging winds and heavy rainfall strike NSW, Queensland, and parts of Victoria.
Shoppers were evacuated and fire crews attended the scene after the roof caved in at Penrith HomeCo shopping centre
Damaging winds and heavy rainfall sweeps through Sydney Harbour on Tuesday (pictured)
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and large hailstones
Inverell, in northern NSW, to Bega on the south coast and as far west as Orange are being blasted by high winds and large hailstones in the deluge.
Coastal regions north of Wollongong may dodge the worst of the storms but Sydney's west and CBD are already being hit by the massive thunderstorm.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned of dangerous intense storms hitting the Blue Mountains, the Hunter Valley and Wollongong, with Penrith next.
Chifley Dam, south of Bathurst, saw torrential rain dump almost 25mm in just 30 minutes, while Gunnedah airport reported winds of up to 83km/h.