Intown Geelong - 1926 Higton Tornado Photos

The Geelong's Great Twister of 1926

Fortunately the Geelong region is not prone to tornadoes or twisters as they are commonly known. They are usually associated with the mid lands of the USA although they do occur on all continents. Southern Australia has the right conditions for tornadoes to form.

The most recent tornado or twister occurred on the 14th of May 2007 to the north of the You Yangs -luckily no serious damage or injury was reported but over the years it has been a different story.

In recent years the Bellarine Peninsula had been struck by serious twisters, in October of 2001 Leopold was struck but no damage was reported but in 1984 the area around Portarlington was destroyed with over 50 caravans, trees and rooftops destroyed in a nasty tornado.

As you will see from our exclusive historical photographs below Highton suffered serious damage from a tornado on July 21, 1926. These pictures show the Highton Methodist Church St John's reduced to what could only resemble a war zone. Reports show there were 250km winds associated with the twister and over 20 houses and public buildings were destroyed. Tragically several people were seriously injured and a man and young boy was killed. The tornado crossed highton and then demolished a path through the back of Belmont into Marshall and Breakwater.