Sydney’s storms three days ago caused ‘cyclone-like’ damage – as 15,000 homes remain without power

Sydney’s monster storms three days ago caused ‘cyclone-like’ damage – as 15,000 homes remain without power

  • Ausgrid said customers in Sydney’s north should prepare to be without power
  • Some households could remain without electricity for four days after the storm
  • About 15,000 customers remained without electricity at 6.30pm on Thursday 

Some Sydney households could remain without power for days after severe storms caused cyclone-like damage to Ausgrid’s electricity network.

The utility company on Thursday said customers in the hardest-hit areas in Sydney’s north should prepare to be without power until Sunday, and consider relocating if possible.

About 15,000 customers remained without electricity at 6.30pm on Thursday, Ausgrid said.

 

The storm snapped this tree in half in northern Sydney narrowly missing cars 

This included 1600 customers in Roseville, 1300 each in Gordon and Frenchs Forest, 1100 in Pymble and 900 in Chatswood.

‘This is some of the worst damage we have seen in a concentrated area and is similar to what you would expect to see after a cyclone,’ Ausgrid chief operating officer Trevor Armstrong said in a statement earlier on Thursday.

‘We have hundreds of people working hard to make hazards safe and rebuilding sections of the network from the ground up and unfortunately this takes time.’

‘The devastation is on par with damage from a cyclone and the network is being rebuilt from the ground up in the hardest hit areas,’ the company later reiterated in a further statement.

The crazy weather upended a trampoline in this front garden in Frenchs Forest in Sydney's north

The crazy weather upended a trampoline in this front garden in Frenchs Forest in Sydney’s north

Ausgrid warned many powerlines were still down and anyone who saw them should stay at least eight metres away.

There have been more than 1800 hazards on the network, it said.

NSW was a ‘state of extremes’ on Tuesday as severe storms downed trees and powerlines in Sydney, snow fell in Thredbo while other parts of the state sweltered.

At the height of the storms, 52,000 customers were without electricity.

 

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