Tornado lashes southeast Australia, leaving hundreds without power

SYDNEY: A tornado tore through Australia's rural southeast on Thursday, ripping roofs off houses, uprooting trees, toppling power lines and causing minor injuries, authorities said.

Police and ambulance crews were called to Meadow Flat, a town of 300 people near the regional centre of Bathurst, following reports of a tornado destroying a house just after noon, the emergency services said.

A man was taken to hospital with cuts to his arm. About 20 minutes later, the crews went to Clear Creek, with a population of about 100, about 30 km (20 miles) away, where a man and a woman were treated for minor injuries, the New South Wales ambulance service said.