A roof has been torn off a home and trees ripped out of the ground as a severe storm cell swept through Alice Springs' southern suburbs overnight.
The concentrated weather event lashed homes in Gillen and the Gap about 9.30pm, with most damage occurring around Gap Road, Bloomfield Street and Traeger Avenue.
The storm has been described as a "mini tornado" by St John Ambulance staff, who said they were relieved not to receive any emergency call-outs overnight.
"Thankfully everyone was locked up in home at the time and we didn't get any triple-zero calls as a result of that," emergency communication centre manager Craig Garraway said.
Northern Territory Police responded to multiple jobs overnight, as fallen trees caused traffic hazards, but there were no serious incidents.
Evacuation after roof torn off
A roof was ripped off a home in the Gap by the "freak winds", with the owner given 48 hours to leave the house so it can be repaired.
"The roof was quite a wide, flat roof so we couldn't actually patch that one," NT Emergency Services duty officer Jenna Aurich said.
"It was just too big a job for us, so sadly we had to evacuate the residents of that property."
Mayor Matt Paterson said council crews were working hard to clear the debris, and urged residents to stay safe.
"It was a cracker of a storm, and a little bit scary," he said.
"I was watching TV and nearly went through the roof when I heard the wind and thunder. I think a few people would have had a rough night's sleep."
Power outages across region
Power and Water Corporation crews have also worked overnight to restore power to at least 200 homes hit by the storm, mostly in the Gap.
"The bulk of the damage was Gap Road, Hayes Sreet, Strehlow Sreet and down through Speed Sreet a bit," area manager Gavin Kahl said.
Ms Aurich said it was difficult to prepare for fast-moving storms like these.
"We have been seeing quite a strong wind gust coming across the territory over the last couple of weeks and they seem to be coming quite quickly out of the blue within a few hours," she said.
"We recommend for people to secure lose items around their property."
Storms could continue
The Bureau of Meteorology said the storm was caused by a low that intensified across the southern ocean and "wreaked havoc" across South Australia and the southern NT.
"Unfortunately we don't have any observations in terms of winds, but from what I hear, there could have been gusts potentially stronger than 100 kilometres and hour," duty forecaster Moses Raico said.
He said he "couldn't rule out" similar storms continuing today.
"But the environment's probably shifted a little bit further towards the east, over eastern parts of the Simpson district today," he said.
"That's where there's the greatest chances of seeing some damaging wind gusts, as well as the south-eastern parts of the Barkly district today."
