The clean-up is on after yesterday’s wild Sydney storm, that saw tens of thousands of houses without power across the city and the Hunter and Illawarra regions, and a number of drivers rescued from flood waters by the State Emergency Service.
The city was lashed by a severe storm cell early on Friday evening, with heavy rainfall, hail, damaging winds and flash flooding in areas such as Parramatta. As many as 40,000 houses were without power at the height of the storm, with supply slowly being restored to affected suburbs.
In trouble buddy #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/V2gD1SDyp2
— Jason O’Neill (@jasononeill3) February 8, 2019
Nine drivers were rescued across Sydney after becoming trapped in their cars due to rising waters. SES coordinator Vanessa Hutchison told Fairfax: “All of them had driven into flood water. Please do not drive or walk through flood water.”
Videos posted to social media show the severity of the Sydney storm, and one shows an unfortunate Porsche that appears to have been taken out by a falling tree branch:
Just had power restored after 14 hours. Came across this Porsche last night which was in the wrong place at the wrong time. #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/4aKQMiylyq
— Dave Meddows (@davemeddows) February 8, 2019
Westfield in Parramatta copped some flooding as a result of the heavy rain:
Westfields is getting flooded…#sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/oM5EtGhfUk
— G i G i (@gacd86) February 8, 2019
A number of commuters found themselves stuck on public transport, as roadways in the city turned into lakes:
Caught the ferry in ryde today…
Wait this is the 507 bus… #sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/vpvCby4THT— Joshua La Macchia ن (@joshlama) February 8, 2019
Storm chasing! Last night’s lightning over Sydney ⚡️⚡️#ilovesydney #seeaustralia pic.twitter.com/qKC20AgMuj
— Ruth Collins (@DrRLC) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/JudyJaz/status/1093789723108114438
Was a slow trip home on the M4 last night ⛈⛈ #sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/1vtBaQB6DN
— Jess Moran (@jessmoran13) February 9, 2019
We’re stuck here until it stops #sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/881pIv7Z1a
— G i G i (@gacd86) February 8, 2019
#SydneyStorm it was crazy… pic.twitter.com/1rFEKT4WQZ
— Amish (@amishsahni) February 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/william_clancy/status/1093776159353892866
Narellan town centre right now #sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/8w4DV8ROzO
— Abdul Raafe (@imraafe) February 8, 2019
Ausgrid has warned that more severe thunderstorms are forecast today in the northeast and southeast parts of New South Wales, and has cautioned residents to secure loose items in their yards so they don’t damage power lines.
More severe storms are forecast across our network today. Take a few minutes to secure loose items in your yard so they don’t blow away into powerlines.
Never approach fallen wires, always assume they are live, stay 8metres away and report them to us on 131388 https://t.co/zpQBx2o3cu
— Ausgrid (@Ausgrid) February 9, 2019
