Monster hail hits Aussies in storm chaos
Concerning footage and pictures are emerging as millions were hit by a frightening storm, and more weather chaos is on the way. Follow our live coverage.
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Monster hail is falling on parts of New South Wales, in an ominous sign after a massive storm hit the state.
A man is dead, over 100,000 people are without power and the SES responded to more than 3,000 incidents since Wednesday morning, with more bad weather expected across the north of the state on Thursday evening and into Friday.
A startling map on Essential Energy’s outages page shows just how vast the unplanned disruption has become across the state.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has said storms are still occurring and more heavy rain is due on Thursday morning, with strong winds to batter the state all day.
Radar footage showed the monster storm spread some 1000km from Glen Innes in the state’s north, to Eden on the border with Victoria.
The State Emergency Service (SES) has advised people to “stay indoors” on the state’s far south coast after 63mm of rain came down in just one hour to 12.45am at Eurobodalla with further storms forecast.
A man believed to be aged in his 80s was found dead by emergency services at about 3.50pm on Wednesday in Cowra, central west NSW, after a tree fell on his vehicle.
Monster hail falls in NSW
In an ominous sign there could be more weather chaos on the way, parts of regional NSW are reporting massive hail storms.
Residents in Tucabia, a small country village in the state’s north, shared videos and pictures of the baseball-sized hail that fell this morning.
More than 3000 incidents so far
NSW State Emergency Service (SES) members have responded to more than 3,000 incidents since Wednesday morning.
Significant thunderstorms impacted the Riverina and southern NSW on Wednesday afternoon, causing widespread damage. Later in the evening, storms downed trees and powerlines and impacted homes in Sydney, the Illawarra and Newcastle/Hunter region.
Severe storms are expected to continue across the state, with rainfall totals of up to 200mm in a 48-hour period possible in parts of the north coast.
NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing ASFM said more than 900 members had been actively working through incidents across the state due to the storms and would continue to respond alongside their communities.
“We’ve had significant damage recorded in western NSW, the Riverina and the Hunter regions due to the storms. Our members in the Maitland area are working through more than 500 incidents that remain outstanding,” Commissioner Wassing said.
Crazy rain to hit all day Thursday, dangerous winds set in
The BOM is warning of “large and powerful” surf conditions on Thursday, with high winds and rain lashing the NSW coast.
The severe thunderstorm warning has now been cacelled, with the worst of the storm having passed overnight.
It’s also predicting a washout weekend ahead - with non-stop rain in Sydney until at least Monday night.
Speaking on Today on Thursday morning, NSW SES chief superintendent Dallas Burnes said he held concerns for holidaymakers in the state’s north, where 30-80 millimetres of rain is predicted to fall.
“We expecting further thunderstorms today, and we’ve also got concerns about our weather front that’s going to impact the northern part of the Mid North Coast and the north-east of the state over the next couple of days, a lot of rain coming there,” he said.
People camping near bodies of water on the North Coast, Mid North Coast and Central Coast have been warned to prepare for severe weather.
Thousands remain without power
Late on Wednesday night, Ausgrid, the electricity distributor for much of Sydney, the Hunter and central coast, reported that 120,000 customers were without power and 300 “electrical hazards” had been reported – with much of that north of Sydney.
“Extra emergency crews will continue working throughout the night to remove a significant amount of debris, attend to hazards to make areas safe and work to restore power as soon as possible,” Ausgrid said in a statement.
“Due to the extent of the damage and the widespread nature of this event, the majority of customers impacted are likely to be out until tomorrow at the earliest.”
Essential Energy, which distributes power over regional NSW, said 30,000 customers had lost power including in Bathurst, Coonabarabran, Wagga Wagga, Tumbarumba, Orange, Tumut, Mudgee, Queanbeyan, Blayney, Canowindra and Cowra.
As of Thursday morning, 25,695 Endeavour Energy customers remain affected; 87,296 Ausgrid customers; and 15,600 Essential Energy customers.
House destroyed, flights delayed
In parts of Sydney on Wednesday, 24mm of rain fell in 19 minutes just after 8pm.
Sydney’s CBD recorded 40mm between 8.30pm and 11.30pm. Bega, on the south coast, went from no rain to almost 60mm between 5pm and 1.30am.
Cowra experienced wind gust speeds of 107km/h at the time, according to the BOM.
Parts of NSW, including Wagga Wagga and Orange were smashed by the storms with a number of people injured, property damaged and crops destroyed.
Later in the evening, Sydney and the central coast were hit by the fast moving storm, with lightning, heavy rains and winds.
A home in Mudgee, in the state’s central west, was “destroyed” by fire after a power pole fell on it during Wednesday night’s storm, setting it alight.
“Sadly, the entire structure was destroyed,” Fire and Rescue NSW said in a statement.
“Luckily there was nobody inside of the house at the time that the incident occurred, and nobody was injured.
“The incident was brought under control just prior to midnight, with firefighters leaving shortly after.”
Flights in and out of Sydney Airport were also temporarily affected, while blackouts were reported in several suburbs.
Nearly a thousand calls for help were made to the SES, with more than 200 of those in the three hours to 9pm.
Most calls were for trees down and leaking roofs, although there had been multiple reports of roofs being blown off buildings in the Hawkesbury area.
“Destructive winds have caused damage in the state’s south,” an SES spokesman said.
Insane footage as train stations are flooded
Sydney’s Town Hall station experienced such bad flooding that a waterfall formed down the stairs from street level.
Shocked commuters filmed inside the station showing the floor submerged in water.
Commuters are already facing a hellish week with train strikes grounding or delaying hundreds of services.
The strike has left Sydney’s roads at a standstill as millions are forced to drive around the city, a situation only liken to worsen with Thursday’s torrential rains.
A resident of Richmond in Sydney’s northwest said it was “like a hurricane where I am”.
The Sydney suburb experienced more than 10mm of rain in just 12 minutes and wind gusts of 89km/h.
The wild weather was caused by a cold front and a low pressure trough associated with it that previously had affected Melbourne.
Thursday could be wet in Sydney with 2 to 30mm of rain and the chance of a thunderstorm in the morning.
That wet weather is expected to continue into the weekend.
Originally published as Monster hail hits Aussies in storm chaos