Tens of thousands of homes have been left without power and dozens were damaged after a ‘five-minute cyclone’ battered Sydney on Tuesday, toppling trees and powerlines.
About 34,000 residents are still facing power outages as of 9am Wednesday morning and Ausgrid customers have been told to expect extended blackouts.
Areas facing the worst damage are around Roseville, Gordon, Mount Colah, Epping, Lindfield, Pymble, Killara, Allambie Heights, East Lindfield, Hornsby Heights.
Ravenswood School for Girls in Gordon was closed on Wednesday due to power outages and damage in the area.
SES crews have been working to clean up in the aftermath as many residents awoke to find their cars and homes damaged by fallen trees and power lines.
The service has received more than 1,340 calls across Sydney and the Blue Mountains where giant trees were seen piercing through the roofs of a number of homes.
Debris and toppled trees blocked roads as well as the entry to some homes in Gordon.
At Killara Station, in Sydney’s North Shore, a row of cars were crushed by a massive tree brought down by powerful gusty winds.
Social media photos show the devastation left behind the ‘five-minute cyclone’ that battered Sydney and parts of NSW on Tuesday
At Killara Station, in Sydney’s North Shore, a row of cars were crushed by a massive tree brought down by powerful gusty winds
Tree loppers survey fallen trees blocking Powell Street in the suburb of Gordon following yesterday’s storm and high winds
The powerful storm wreaked havoc across Sydney’s suburbs, damaging cars and properties. Pictured is the storm aftermath in Gordon (left) and damaged car in Killara (right)
Gordon (pictured) in the Upper North Shore of Sydney, was among the multiple Sydney suburbs that experienced the worst damage
About 34,000 residents are still facing power outages as of 9am Wednesday morning, and Ausgrid customers have been told to expect extended blackouts
NSW was described to be in a ‘state of extremes’ Tuesday as winds reached up to 104km/h in some areas, toppling trees and powerlines
Aftermath: Residents awoke to devastation left behind by the storm with some cars and homes suffering damaged from toppled trees
‘There has been extensive damage to the electricity network from yesterday’s storms in Sydney. Emergency crews are focused on making safe more than 1,500 hazards,’ the power company said.
‘If you see fallen powerlines always assume they are live and stay at least 8metres away.’
‘We need to rebuild parts of the network in the hardest hit areas and this means some customers won’t get power back today.’
NSW was described to be in a ‘state of extremes’ after it was hit with showers, thunderstorms, damaging winds, and even snow and areas of raised dust across the state in one day.
Winds reached up to 104 km/h at Fort Denison, 96km/h in Holsworthy and 95 km/h in Sydney Harbour.
Olympic sailor Olivia Price said she got caught in the middle of the storm while driving in Rushcutters Bay.
‘It was like a five-minute cyclone,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
‘And there was ash and smoke coming out of everywhere. It made everything really dark. There were branches and leaves swirling around the streets.’
Meanwhile, snow fell in Thredbo and Tocal in NSW’s Hunter region sweltered through 39C heat.
Hail fell in the Sutherland region, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
SES NSW has received more than 1,340 calls across Sydney and the Blue Mountains where giant trees were seen piercing through the roofs of a number of homes
Areas facing the worst damage are around Roseville, Gordon, Mount Colah, Epping, Lindfield, Pymble, Killara, Allambie Heights, East Lindfield, Hornsby Heights
Toppled trees blocked the path to one home in Gordon
Debris, fallen trees and power lines are seen in the suburb of Gordon following yesterday’s storm and high winds in Sydney
Ravenswood School for Girls in Gordon was closed on Wednesday due to power outages and damage. Damaged cars from fallen trees are seen on Powell Street in the suburb
The wild weather brought showers, thunderstorms, damaging winds, and even snow and areas of raised dust across the state, in one day
Towering trees fall on a home in Gordon, north of Sydney, during a freak storm on Tuesday afternoon
Meanwhile, snow fell in Perisher (pictured) on Tuesday as the rest of the state endured wild thunderstorms and hail
Other parts of the state also reached temperatures in the mid to high 30s, including 35.4C recorded in the heart of the city at the bureau’s weather station on Observatory Hill.
Ausgrid has warned people to stay well away from downed trees and powerlines as it responded to more than 780 hazards.
‘Those who rely on continuous power supply for medical or life support equipment should consider back up plans today,’ the power company wrote on Twitter.
Some further 20,000 Endeavour Energy customers also lost power with crews working to restore supply to 5000 customers mainly in the Macarthur and Hawkesbury regions, the company said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The severe weather also caused chaos for the afternoon commute.
A freak storm ripped through Sydney on Tuesday afternoon knocking down trees
Workers across Sydney are facing long delays in their commutes across the city as fallen trees and power lines cause road closures
The crazy weather upended a trampoline in this front garden in Frenchs Forest in Sydney’s north
Trains were stopped in sections of the North Shore and Central Coast and Newcastle lines, Transport for NSW said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
Those were running again by Tuesday evening while in Sydney’s north a number of road lanes remain closed due to fallen trees and traffic lights remain blacked out.
Buses were delayed in several areas including Pymble, Gordon, Chatswood, Roseville, Willoughby and Hornsby Heights.
There were gloomy views of Sydney Harbour when a thunderstorm caused lunchtime chaos
Storm damage is seen in Gordon, north of Sydney, Tuesday, November 26, 2019. A severe fast moving thunderstorm has passed over Sydney resulting in fallen trees and downed power lines in several Sydney suburbs
By early Tuesday afternoon most of the storms had moved through Sydney and were headed north to the Central Coast and Hunter regions, BOM posted on Twitter.
Strong and gusty westerly winds were affecting parts of the state’s southeast on Tuesday evening and aren’t expected to ease until later on Tuesday night.
Major Sydney arterial roads were blocked by uprooted trees – including Mona Vale Road and the Pacific Highway near Pymble.
The storm is expected to cause a headache for insurance companies with cars being damaged across the city
The NSW Rural Fire Service are working to clean up the damage from the freak ten-minute storm, which was propelled by winds of more than 90km/h.
A home in Bondi had its roof completely blown off, while hail hammered parts of the north shore and eastern suburbs.
The thunderstorm raced through the city from the west early on Tuesday afternoon, hitting Sydney Airport and the CBD by about 1pm and then waters off Bondi Beach.
Photos taken by Sydneysiders showed a tree felled across Forest Way in Belrose, while in Gordon on the north shore one witness said hundreds of trees were down.
In Gordon and Pymble, trees were knocked down on almost every street.
A car is obscured by a fallen tree in Gordon, north of Sydney