Australia Weather News
The residents had a lucky escape when the roof lifted from their home in the wild weather - ABC
"Thank God we're standing here!"
A group of students in Tasmania's south had a rude awakening overnight, as wind gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour battered their house.
"Most of us were just sleeping and heard a noise, boom, I think something's dropped. But actually that thing [the top-storey] dropped, it's terrible," said one of the students, who did not want to be named.
The roof was peeled off the house at Kingston, scattering debris around the neighbourhood.
One of the residents received a minor injury, but the rest were unharmed.
"The police, the ambulance, they all came," she said.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said while the wind would ease, it would increase again later in the day, with damaging winds expected for the whole of the state on Sunday night and Monday morning.
Emergency crews were busy as strong winds battered the state overnight, with gusts of 102 kilometres per hour in Hobart just before 5:00am.
Mount Wellington/kunanyi recorded gusts of 141 km/h, while Maatsuyker Island and Scotts Peak clocked 120 km/h.
Two men were taken to safety after a fishing boat ran onto a reef in heavy seas off the far south of Tasmania.
A mayday call and emergency beacon signal were received from the fishing boat Allana about 5:30am, when the boat got stuck on a reef at Fisher Point, near Recherche Bay, police said.
Tasmania's rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft from interstate, along with the police rescue boat, were dispatched, and the two men were transferred to the police boat and taken to Cockle Creek.
The men were uninjured in the incident.
TasNetworks is working to restore power to hundreds of customers who lost connection in the severe weather.
Police warned motorists of trees and debris across roads in Howrah, Mornington, Campania, Blackmans Bay, Police Point, Deep Bay, Bonnet Hill, Burnie, Mole Creek and Strahan, and of power lines down on the Tasman Highway, at Bicheno.
Police said several trampolines blew away during the evening and the BOM advised people to secure outdoor settings and be aware of damaged trees.
ABC