‘Destructive’ storms hit Sydney, Melbourne suffers more flash flooding

Severe storms are pounding NSW’s east coast with destructive winds, heavy rainfall and large hailstones knocking out power.

Thunderstorms make their way south east over Sydney harbour along with a thick fog blanketing the city. Photo: Tim Pascoe

Severe thunderstorms are pounding NSW’s east coast with destructive winds, heavy rainfall and large hailstones causing blackouts for thousands of homes.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned multiple cells were converging on Sydney late on Saturday afternoon, and a particularly “dangerous thunderstorm” was encroaching on Newcastle.

The storms will cause heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, destructive winds and giant hailstones over the next several hours.

Endeavour Energy is working to restore power to around 54,000 homes and businesses in Sydney’s north west.

“As the storm has brought down trees across the region, residents are reminded to stay well clear of fallen powerlines,” a spokesman said in a statement.

Ausgrid is also reporting blackouts through the Central Coast and Hunter Valley.

There is no clear timeline for when the power will be restored.

Parts of the city’s train network have ground to a halt again with a power outage and debris on the track stopping trains between Parramatta and Granville.

The Northern Line is also experiencing power failures which have stopped lifts and Opal card systems.

Some trains were replaced by buses in peak hour on Friday afternoon during torrential rain and, on Thursday, similar storms caused flash flooding in parts of the city.

Storm clouds roll over Kellyville as Sydney is hit for the third day in a row with afternoon storms.Picture: Isabella Lettini

Meanwhile, flash floods have caused havoc for some in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, with flash flooding turning backyards, suburban streets and ponds into gushing rivers.

A Christmas party at a Pakenham housing estate in the city’s outer southeast was called off Saturday afternoon when heavy rainfall halted celebrations. Organiser Samantha Thorpe said a little pond nearby became “like a raging river”.

“It has never happened like this before.” Just as amazingly, Ms Thorpe said, within an hour of the deluge, the water had drained away and the sun was shining, as if it hadn’t happened. A general severe thunderstorm warning remains in place for most of the state - Central, East Gippsland, South West, North Central, West and South Gippsland, Wimmera, parts of the Mallee and Northern Country districts. Thunderstorms lashing parts of Victoria have seen up to 13mm of rain fall every five minutes in the early hours of Saturday and a severe weather warning is also in place for parts of Victoria including Shepparton, Seymour, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Ballarat and Wangaratta.

Pakenham resident Samantha Thorpe standing in her flooded driveway at Henry Lawson Drive in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the bad weather had been widespread.

“There weren’t too many parts of the state that have been spared the impact of the weather event we’ve seen over the past 48 hours,” he said on Saturday. Bureau of Meteorology’s Kevin Parkyn said intense storms and heavy rain were expected to continue in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon and night. He said the relatively rare weather conditions could bring flash flooding too. In the 24 hours from 7am on Friday the SES received 693 requests for assistance across the state, with 123 of those calls from the Malvern area. Most calls were about flooding or building damage.

Other areas badly affected included Bacchus Marsh, Port Phillip, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay.

The SES also took part in 25 rescues on Friday night - all people trapped in cars in floodwaters.

SES spokeswoman Susan Davie said it wasn’t clear how those people got trapped, but said it would be a combination of some driving into flood water and others who would have got stuck in the flash flood.

“We just want to remind people to never drive through flood waters, it’s hard to assess the depth of the water,” she told AAP.