Sydney heatwave: Weathered city takes a fatal blow
SYDNEY is facing a wet and windy day as emergency crews continue a massive clean-up after yesterday’s wild storms battered the city, blacking out thousands of homes, downing trees and power lines and leaving one man dead.
NSW
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Massive mop-up after storm cells cause chaos in Sydney
One man killed, woman critical, after tree crushes car
25,000 homes still without power in city, Central Coast and Hunter
SES flooded with 2000 calls, western suburbs worst hit
- Sydney storm road closures
SYDNEY is facing a wet and windy day as emergency personnel continue a massive clean-up operation after yesterday’s wild storms battered the city blacking out thousands of homes, downing trees and power poles and leaving one man dead.
Up to 400 SES volunteers spent the night assisting residents - mainly for fallen trees and power lines and damaged roofs.
A similar number of volunteers will be out in the field today, with volunteers from NSW Fire & Rescue and the Rural Fire Service also helping out.
The strong winds brought down powerlines, cutting power to more than 70,000 people in the city’s north, south and west as well as near Newcastle.
Energy companies have worked through the night to restore power to most of those.
Ausgrid said it has 4000 customers in Sydney, 3000 in the Central Coast and 7000 in the Hunter still without power, while Endeavour Energy is working to restore power to 10,200 customers in
iMount Druitt, Bargo, Liverpool and Cabramatta.
The SES has received 1900 calls for emergency help, and that number is expected to rise to more than 2000 as people wake up and assess damage today, an SES spokesman said.
One man was killed and a woman was injured yesterday when a tree fell on their car at Emu Plains.
Just over a week after torrential rains and flooding rocked NSW’s east coast, emergency services were called to the scene on Nepean St about 2.15pm after reports a large gum tree had fallen on a black four-wheel-drive, trapping both occupants.
They arrived to find the passenger, a man, had been killed instantly by a gum tree with a 1m thick trunk.
Fire and Rescue officers worked for more than an hour to free a 60-year-old woman from the car. She was flown by CareFlight helicopter to Westmead Hospital, where she was last night in a stable condition.
Emu Plains residents said the brief storm was like a mini cyclone, causing branches to fly through the air smashing cars along Nepean St.
Darren Hoven, 38, said he rushed over to help when he saw three police vehicles arrive.
“Another driver in a ute was knocking on the windows but he could not get a response,” he said. “The tree must have hit (the vehicle) from behind. What are the chances?”
Vanessa Poricich, 38, was driving on nearby Cary St during the storm and said it was “terrifying”.
“The branches were smashing my car, I was driving on the opposite side of the road because I thought with the trees going the way they were, my instinct was something was going to happen.”
The fatal accident occurred during a horror two hours, in which storms devastated the city’s west and south. The SES logged more than 400 calls for assistance by 5pm.
In Whalan, Linda Bocxe, 46, narrowly avoided being hit by a tree that crashed into her home. “I just moved from that corner of the house, where the tree came through in the sunroom,” she said. “I would have been knocked out and crushed. It was lucky the rest of the family were at work. It was only me and my youngest home. I was trying to keep an 11-year-old from going hysterical.”
Ms Bocxe she was just glad no one was injured but said they did not have home and contents insurance.
“I was standing at the front and a trampoline blew up the road,” she said.
“Next minute there was a massive bang and a tree came through the sunroom, kitchen and loungeroom. Since then one has gone through my eldest son’s bedroom.”
SES media spokeswoman Jacqueline Rose said the service had received 50 calls for Mt Druitt, 80 calls for Penrith and 60 in the southern region in just two hours.
A building was struck by lightning, causing it to partially collapse on to the Princes Highway, blocking the road at Rockdale for more than two hours. It created traffic chaos as emergency crews scrambled across the city.
Last night Ausgrid was working to restore power to more than 38,000 homes across Sydney and the Central Coast. The main affected areas were in Sydney’s south, around Sylvania, Mortdale, Bankstown and Panania.
The storm came after Sydney sweated through a scorching morning, with the temperature topping 40C in western Sydney. The extreme weather conditions will settle down for the weekend.
Storm warning for Sydney! pic.twitter.com/EIle7EruLx
— Jon Johannsen (@ajjency) January 14, 2016Emergency crews working to free people trapped in a car after a tree fell on them in Emu Plains. #TenNews more 5pm pic.twitter.com/otgrPCA9al
— TEN News Sydney (@TenNewsSydney) January 14, 2016Penrith smashed in the storm. One entire roof torn off and blown 100 metres away. @7NewsSydney @sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/fA9OhDIDmi
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) January 14, 2016Sydney - this is on its way #storm pic.twitter.com/KzomBl6fnQ
— Kellie Sloane (@kelliesloane) January 14, 2016Ominouse storm clouds building over Sydney 😕 pic.twitter.com/Dx963NIujg
— JULIE (@JulieSceneout) January 14, 2016
#Sydney storm alert: pools at #WetnWild temporarily cleared as a precaution with storms in area. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/bqBqy3OTZV
— Paul Kadak (@PaulKadak) January 14, 2016
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