One man has died in NSW after fierce storms tore through the state, leaving more than 120,000 without electricity and causing public transport delays in Sydney.
Heatwave conditions early in the day were later fanned by winds in excess of 100km/h and dry lightning strikes.
Police confirmed a 76-year-old man died after he was struck by a falling tree at Glenworth Valley, on the Central Coast, about 1.20pm on Wednesday.
Emergency services rushed to the scene but the man’s injuries were too severe.
In Sydney, public transport is suffering delays especially the T1 western line with trains not running between Parramatta, Richmond and St Marys after the severe weather caused power supply issues.
‘Repair crews are on site and are working to restore train services, however there is no forecast for when train operations will resume,’ Sydney Trains said.
‘Limited trains continue to run between Parramatta and the City; and between St Marys and Penrith / Blue Mountains Line stations.
‘Delay travel, consider using other transport or make your own travel arrangements if possible.’
Wild weather has knocked down trees across NSW with one man dead after he was hit by one on the Central Coast (pictured is Blacktown in Sydney)
Heatwave conditions early in the day were broken by storm conditions in the early afternoon
Public transport is experiencing delays in Sydney with trains not running at Parramatta (pictured), Richmond and St Marys
Dangerous storms hit Blackheath, Oakdale, Dapto, Lake Avon, the Rylstone/Kandos district and the Bathurst district late Wednesday morning.
The storms continued to sweep across Greater Sydney and nearby regions on Wednesday afternoon, hitting from coastal Wollongong to Blue Mountains towns including Katoomba, as well as suburbs including Penrith, Camden and Sutherland.
The town of Nevertire, west of Dubbo, felt some of the worst of the weather blasting eastern Australia, with lightning causing wall collapses on one property and six others to lose their roof.
More than 1000 calls for help have been made in NSW alone after wild weather left multiple roofs torn from buildings in the state’s central west.
At least 120,000 homes in NSW are without power after gusts of up to 119 kilometres per hour were felt on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Authorities on Wednesday declared extreme fire danger, the second-highest rating, for ten NSW districts, including Greater Sydney.
The state’s first catastrophic fire danger rating of the season has been issued for the Lower Central West Plains, meaning any fires will be fast-moving, unpredictable and uncontrollable.
NSW residents are being warned of ‘catastrophic’ fire danger. Picture: NSW Rural Fire Service
Tens of thousands are also without power in Queensland as two consecutive days of superstorms were declared a catastrophic event.
The damage bill from the storms is expected to surge into the millions, as the Insurance Council of Australia confirmed claims have reached 27,800 and continue to climb.
Crews are working around the clock to repair the damage but almost 29,000 people are still without power, with the worst-affected areas including Moreton Bay, Noosa and the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane.
Brisbane bore the brunt of Tuesday night’s second wave of damage from a storm system stretching as far south as up to 110mm of rain was dumped on some areas.
Large parts of Queensland also continue to swelter under heatwave conditions, with temperatures six to 10 degrees above the November average.
By 3.30pm on Wednesday, 1145 calls for help had been made to the NSW State Emergency Service, with 622 in metropolitan Sydney alone.
‘These incidents relate mainly to trees down, taking down power lines and also damaging roofs,’ NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Sean Kearns said.
‘We’re asking people as they leave work this afternoon to avoid any unnecessary travel and to drive to the conditions.’
Paramedics and SES workers also worked to free a man in his twenties with head and leg injuries after a tree collapsed on him at a park in Ophir, north of Orange, also in central-west NSW.
Humidity combined with warm temperatures and troughs to produce storms right across the east coast with the threat of further storms lingering.
‘There’s also a risk of high-end storms bringing giant-sized hail and destructive gusts,’ bureau meteorologist Sarah Scully said.
Meanwhile, a cold front moving across southern areas of the country is expected to trigger stormy conditions and damaging winds across parts of South Australia and Victoria.
‘That’s catching the southeastern parts of South Australia, possibly reaching some of those southern Adelaide suburbs and then pushing across most of Victoria, including Melbourne,’ Ms Scully said
Ex-tropical cyclone Fina was downgraded overnight and is impacting the northern parts of Western Australia’s Kimberley region with heavy rainfall and the risk of flash flooding.
‘We’re going to continue to see the impact of this ex-tropical cyclone over the next day or two, even though it’s lost that cyclonic category,’ the Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said.
The clean-up continues in the Northern Territory after Fina felled trees, caused power outages and damaged buildings as it swept through on the weekend as a category three system.
