NSW weather: Fast and furious storm lashes NSW coast
A 9kg gas bottle that fell from the upper floors of an inner-Sydney building to strike and kill a man during last night’s wild storm was a “one-in-a-million” freak accident, emergency teams said today.
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A 9kg gas bottle that fell from the upper floors of an inner-Sydney building to strike and kill a man during last night’s wild storm was a “one-in-a-million” freak accident, emergency teams said today.
The 37-year-old was walking along Harrington Street outside the Malt Shovel Taphouse in The Rocks before midnight when the gas bottle struck him, causing severe injuries to his chest and hand.
He was taken inside a nearby hotel by witnesses where he went into cardiac arrest. Police performed CPR and he was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital where he died from his injuries.
Police detective inspector David El-Badawi said today the gas bottle had fallen “from a great height” to strike the married Chatswood man who had been having a drink with a friend in The Rocks.
“The friend is understandably not doing very well,” Det Insp El-Badawi said. “It’s a tragic event.”
NSW Ambulance Superintendent Kath Rallings said the death was a “one-in-a- million” event.
“This is a freak accident and a tragedy for this man’s family and friends,” she said.
“The man was unconscious when paramedics arrived and he then went into cardiac arrest.
“While this is appears to be a one-in-a-million accident, please do not underestimate these wild weather conditions.”
A man who works in a building above the accident said he saw furniture fly off the roof of an apartment block during the storm.
“It was crazy- a chair flew off and hit the glass building across the road,” he said.
On Wednesday, the glass building was smashed in one section and glass covered the path.
Police confirmed the man was walking south along Harrington street to get a train from Wynyard station home to Chatswood.
The incident happened next to a tree outside the Malt Shovel Taphouse.
Brew cafe manager John Rotsos said the entire street was blocked off when he started work at 5.30am.
“The poor guy, he was obviously just walking home- it’s a terrible thing to happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sydney is assessing damage to trees and powerlines after the fierce storm cell moved through the city at 10.30pm.
At 1pm, more than 15,000 properties across the state are still without power – almost a third of which are in the northern suburbs. 65,000 properties have had power restored since last night.
Thousands of residents, whose power had just been restored after last week’s wild storms, were blacked out thanks to heavy rain and strong winds that battered the city after forming over Richmond, Liverpool, Penrith and Colo Heights.
Schools affected by power outages:
— Ausgrid (@Ausgrid) February 18, 2020
Glenvale Special School
Marsden High School
Remington Public School
Ryde Secondary College
Ryde East Public School
Kent Road Public School
All Saints College Street St Josephs campus
Fern Valley Montessori School
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The storm also felled trees in Dural, Kurrajong Heights and Rhodes.
The fast-moving cell was almost completely out of the Harbour City by 11.15pm and wind gusts of up to 101km/h were recorded at Richmond.
The SES received more than 900 calls for help as damaging hail pelted down in the west and bellowing thunder shook homes.
“Never seen a storm like this before,” said one Twitter user, as #SydneyStorm again topped social media.
Thousands of people across the Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Ryde, Ku-ring-gai and the Hills – who already suffered blackouts more than a week ago when Ausgrid struggled to restore power to more than 140,000 properties – were again without power as furious winds pulled down trees and powerlines.
NSW SES spokesman Terri Langendam said more than 100 crews were still responding to more than 400 calls for help at 6am.
“The Hawkesbury had recently been evacuated from floods and they’ve now copped wind. Trees have fallen in already saturated areas,” she said.
The SES is asking people to be patient as crews work through emergency call-outs this morning. Commuters are also being urged to stay off the roads where possible and monitor Live Traffic for updates on road closures.
Sydney Trains has already warned of flow-on delays on the Western and Northern Line due to fallen trees and powerlines.
Storms also belted the Illawarra region near Bowral on Tuesday night before moving north towards Sydney.
Last week’s rain brought a massive influx of water into Sydney’s dams, with Warragamba Dam now at more than 80 per cent capacity.
More than 80mm of rain fell into the catchment over the past week.