The woman killed by a falling tree during a freak storm on Sydney's Northern Beaches was supposed to be celebrating her 69th birthday today.
Susan Cobham had been at her neighbourhood Christmas gathering near Narrabeen Surf Life Saving Club yesterday afternoon when the "micro-burst" weather event ripped through the area.
She died in the car park on Ocean Street in Narrabeen, while two other women, one aged 71 and another in her late teens, were critically injured.
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The family of Ms Cobham said she was a "beloved member" of the Northern Beaches community.
"She was a gentle and nurturing soul who helped anyone in need and loved her grandkids, teaching and practising yoga and gardening," Ms Cobham's son said in a statement.
"She was taken too soon by this freak accident.
"We would like to thank all those first on the scene who tried to save her including the life savers, ambulance and police officers and to the community, family and friends who have all offered their support during this difficult time."
A Surf Life Saving crew was first on the scene of the deadly accident and Sydney Northern Beaches Branch President Tracey Hare-Boyd said it was confronting for the duty officers.
"My heart goes out to them, because you can never train anyone enough for the scenes, for what they saw yesterday and for what they had to do," she said.
The younger patient had head injuries, spinal injuries, and the second surviving woman had severe internal injuries, Superintendent Paul Edwards from NSW Ambulance said today.
He said they were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital by road with a medical team transporting them.
Roofs torn away from Dee Why homes
Two homes in Dee Why have been torn apart by the freak three-minute storm.
Wayne Portlock's house was blown open with the roof ripped off the home just five days out from Christmas.
"Pretty sad, hadn't got the tree up so it's not too bad," Mr Portlock said.
"We'll get through it, it'll be fine."
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The weather system was so fierce Mr Portlock, a former police officer, had to hide beneath his kitchen bench, as his roof flew away.
"From a rattle, it went to a big creak, I thought I'm in danger here in front of the glass doors so I just dived behind the island bench and within 30 seconds the roof was off and another 30 seconds the rain was passed," Mr Portlock said.
"I just looked out and we had a new skylight."
Another home in Dee Why also lost its roof in the storm.
"It was just one big crack and my living room ceiling and roof was gone, and then I sort of went down and outside my unit that whole rood and ceiling was gone," Nathan Lavers, another Dee Why resident, said.
"I wasn't sure to run inside or outside cause there was sort of timber falling."
Widespread damage across Northern Beaches
Numerous powerlines and other trees were downed or uprooted in the "micro-storm", which ripped apartment roofs off and damaged cars.
Dee Why and Narrabeen were hardest hit by the weather event, which "appeared out of nowhere", according to NSW SES Superintendent Stuart Fisher.
There were more than 550 calls for assistance to the SES, 150 Triple Zero calls, while more than 26,000 homes remain without power.
An air conditioning duct was ripped from a building in Dee Why and blown across the street, though miraculously nobody was hurt.
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Firefighters said wild winds ripped the roof off a Forestville shopping centre, tore sheets of metal from apartment buildings and triggered a partial building collapse in Curl Curl.
The service described the incident as a "mini-cyclone", saying trees were knocked onto vehicles and roads, with powerlines torn down from Dee Why to Narrabeen.
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"People were running. People were ducking. No one knew where to go because there was no shelter," one resident said.
"It didn't matter where you drove it was still going bang, bang, bang on the roof."
The clean-up is ongoing.
