Wind whipped Sydney: 3000 SOS calls, 40,000 homes without power
Disaster funding has been announced for two NSW council areas, Port Stephens and Maitland, where thousands of residents remain without power after several days of severe storms.
NSW
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Disaster funding has been announced for two NSW council areas, Port Stephens and Maitland, where thousands of residents remain without power after several days of severe storms.
The areas will be eligible for recovery funding, the NSW and federal governments said in a joint announcement on Saturday.
“The assistance activated today will ensure communities can access essential
supplies and accommodation and ensure councils can start clean up and repairs,” Federal Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister said.
The funding could include emergency accommodation for eligible residents, grants to help others repair structural damage to their homes and financial support for councils to assist in the clean-up effort.
Other LGAs affected by the storms will be able to apply for the recovery scheme.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said the government was “committed” to helping the affected areas recover following the severe weather, and thanked emergency services including the State Emergency Service for their efforts.
“They have been busy throughout the night and will respond when needed as this
wet weather continues. Please continue to watch the weather conditions and follow
the advice of emergency services,” Mr Dib said.
NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said apart from Port Stephens and the Hunter, North Sydney was also one of the hardest hit areas, with crews still working to remove fallen trees from homes and roads in the area.
“The power grid has been impacted, but there’s also damage to homes and infrastructure,” he said.
“We have hundreds of volunteers working with other emergency services that have been out all day and night.
He said crews were “50 per cent of the way” through storm clean-up operations, but there was still a couple of days to go to finish the jobs.
3000 SOS CALLS, 40,000 HOMES WITHOUT POWER
In wild scenes on Friday, trees were downed, roofs blown off buildings and homes and several people hurt as wild weather lashes the east coast.
The State Emergency Service responded to almost 3,000 calls for help across NSW in the past 24 hours, including two flood rescues.
Rain will continue into Sunday although the offshore low pressure weather system responsible for several days of rain and strong winds is finally weakening.
Since the wild winds and heavy rainfall began on Wednesday, almost 7,000 incidents have been recorded.
On Saturday morning, a warning on Ausgrid’s website told customers phone line wait times were “over an hour” and that the power provider could not give estimated times for power restoration.
“Thank you for your patience as we work to restore power in challenging weather conditions. We apologise for not being able to provide accurate restore times in every instance due to the impacts of weather on our crews and the complexity of repairs,” the website read.
More than 40,000 homes were without power by 7am this morning, Ausgrid said, including 28,000 in Sydney and 15,000 in the Hunter and Newcastle regions.
The Sydney metro area was one of the worst hit, with the SES clocking 1988 calls for help since Friday.
Winds gusts of up to about 120 kilometers per hour were recorded near the city, causing trees to fall, one landing on two people in Hyde Park.
Paramedics transported one person to St Vincent’s Hospital with minor injuries. The second was treated at the scene.
Fans also had to be evacuated from a section of the SCG, after a piece of roof cladding fell from the Bill O’Reilly Stand onto seating below at the Sixers-Thunder Big Bash clash.
A wind gust of 119 km/h was recorded at Watamolla in the Royal National Park just before midday, making it the strongest gust recorded there in almost six years.
Meantime, a 93 km/h gust was recorded at Sydney Airport just before 1pm.
Videos posted to social media showed the Manly ferry navigating huge swells. As huge waves lashed the ferry, commuters were seen falling to the ground, while others grabbed the railings for support.
A severe weather warning remains in place for much of the east coast this morning, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning a “low pressure system off of the northern NSW coast is resulting in rainfall about the Hunter and Mid North Coast as well as southerly winds along the coastal fringe from Nowra to Seal Rocks.”
According to Endeavour Energy, 6,741 customers are without power this morning across the state. The worst affected areas are centred in south west and western Sydney suburbs.
According to a spokesperson, there are more than 300 electrical hazards that need to be inspected, patrolled and repaired in order to complete repairs.
The carnage unfolded across Sydney as heavy winds continue.
DRUMMOYNE
A major road in Drummoyne was closed and multiple cars were trapped when a roof was blown off a shop.
One person was injured in the incident.
CROYDON
A tree fell on parked cars on a side-street off busy Milton St, Croydon
BEXLEY: TREES, LINES DOWN
High voltage power lines came down on a bus on Bexley Rd after a falling tree snapped a telegraph pole.
Images also showed a tree smashing through a car on Homer St in Kingsgrove.
CABRAMATTA:
The NSW SES in Fairfield reported a tree had fallen on six cars at Cabramatta Leisure Centre in Sydney’s southwest, and another took out power lines before smashing through a fence on Torrens St in Canley Heights.
ILLAWARRA:
In the Illawarra, Macquarie Pass was closed when a car and fire truck collided, with 200 litres of diesel fuel spilling onto the roadway.
Lawrence Hargrave Dr was also closed in both directions between Stanwell Tops and Baldwell Hill after a tree fell across the road and powerlines.
GYMEA:
Hundreds of residents in Gymea, in Sydney’s south, were also affected by a power outage due to a fallen tree on Arcadia Ave, with power not expected to be restored for hours.
Another tree crashed down nearby on Sylvania Road South, blocking the road.
BOAT CAPSIZED:
A boat capsized in Botany Bay, prompting NSW Police Marine Area Command and Marine Rescue to race to its aid near the end of Runway 34 at Sydney International Airport.
The boat was towed back to the Marine Area Command outpost in Sans Souci, while extreme wind has also caused damage to a back-up airport control tower and blown off a door towards a runway at the airport.
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