Victorian woman films moment 'tornado' tore through her town

A Victorian woman has described her disbelief as what appeared to be a tornado swept through a rural town in the state’s north.

Anne Crichton was forced to take shelter in a shed as the fierce storm passed through her property in Nathalia.

Video captured on her mobile phone shows multiple funnels of the vortex rapidly approaching the home, with intense winds creating a haze of debris and dust.

Ms Crichton said the ferocious tornado had approached seemingly without warning.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Ms Crichton told 9news.com.au.

“I had just taken a few photos before the storm hit just thinking we would get some rain, lightning and thunder.

“We had walked into the machinery shed and I turned around and saw one of our chairs flying past.”

Ms Crichton’s property was left relatively unscathed in the storm, but sadly others in the town weren’t so lucky.

“How we escaped damage I have no idea,” she said.

“Our roof only had a little bit of lifting.

“Unfortunately our neighbours have lost their house and all their farmer sheds.”

Nathalia, 217km from Melbourne and just inside Victoria’s border with NSW, was one of a number of towns battered by yesterday’s storm.

As many as 10 homes in nearby Strathmerton had their roofs torn free by the freakishly strong winds.