Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An epic storm raged across Sydney on Tuesday night, trapping 12 people on a train, closing major roads and bringing snow to the Blue Mountains.
NSW Fire & Rescue experienced one of its busiest nights in history.
A 30-tonne crane toppled over at the Great Western Highway at Wentworthville and was resting precariously on power lines.
Emergency crews are working to lift the crane, which is leaning across the road.
The road was closed although one west-bound lane has been reopened.
A lightning bolt struck the Sydney Tower about 10pm, creating a shower of sparks and plunging the structure into darkness.
Ultimo resident Tom Lane said it was "like someone was welding".
"It was one of the biggest bolts of lightning I have ever seen. It was absolutely massive. The whole tower went black," Mr Lane said.
Snow blanketed the Blue Mountains almost a year to the day since bushfires wiped out more than 200 homes in the area. Snow and ice forced the closure of the Great Western Highway between Bathurst and Blackheath overnight.
The road remains closed between Lithgow and Katoomba, while the Bells Line of Road remains shut between Lithgow and Bell.
The severe thunderstorm warning was cancelled at 12.27am for Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.
The severe weather warning for damaging to destructive winds, heavy rainfall and damaging surf remained in place for the metropolitan area, but is expected to be downgraded about midday.
Winds are expected to ease this morning, but rainfall will remain steady until this afternoon.
Bureau of Meteorology forecast office manager Andrew Treloar said Sydney had some "extraordinary" wind speeds on Tuesday night with gusts reaching 161km/h in Wattamolla in the Royal National Park.
"This has been a significant event for Sydney," Mr Treloar said.
A widespread power outage has closed all shops in Bundeena on Wednesday morning and there are many reports of property damage caused by the high winds and falling trees.
The wind gusts were strongest along the coast, Kurnell and Bellambi experiencing wind gusts over 100km/h.
"Today we've seen conditions start to ease since around midnight," Weatherzone meterologist Josh Fisher said on Wednesday morning.
"In terms of the winds around, we're still seeing gusts as high as 102km/h at the airport about 3am, but now they have begun to gradually back off and we'll continue to see the winds ease off this morning."
Sydney's CBD received 68mm of rain, which now makes it Sydney's wettest October in five years.
Sydney Airport received 98mm and had wind gusts as high as 106km/h.
Since 9am on Tuesday, Sans Souci has received 141mm of rain, its highest rainfall in 23 years, while Canterbury has had 121mm since 9am on Tuesday.
"The low pressure system has been generating these severe conditions overnight. The main area of low pressure has begun to move north-east, with winds easing off," Mr Fisher said.
"There were also reports of flash flooding, particularly through southern suburbs of Sydney where there was a persistent heavy band of rain pushing in last night. That's where we saw the target for the heaviest rainfall."
Train lines flooded
The State Emergency Service planned to use boats to rescue 12 people on a Canberra to Sydney train at Bexley North late on Tuesday night, before aborting the exercise because the water flooding the rail line was too choppy.
The director of operations at Sydney Trains, Tony Eid, a 35-year railway veteran, said he could recall only one night similar to that in Sydney on Tuesday.
He said the State Emergency Service brought boats to move down the rail line to evacuate the nine adults and three children, but the water was too rough.
"We put the boats on the rail line, the emergency services arranged that for us ... but I asked them to abort; it didn't look safe.
"Just after 12.30am the water subsided enough for us to get them off the train and on to taxis."
Another train, a Waratah heading away from the city, was caught at Bardwell Park, and flooded to the level of the train door.
But that train was at the platform, Mr Eid said, rejecting earlier reports that 60 people needed to be evacuated from the train.
Mr Eid said the people on board the Waratah were able to leave the station at Bardwell Park.
Airport dramas
With gusts of up to 106km/h, there were dramas at Sydney Airport overnight.
Because of the storm, 22 domestic services were diverted or cancelled, seven international services were unable to depart the airport, and three international flights were diverted to Brisbane.
These services were all scheduled to depart on Wednesday.
The airport closed at 11pm on Tuesday due to its curfew, but several airlines had applied for special permission from the NSW government to operate past the curfew.
A spokeswoman for Sydney Airport said the airport was operating as normal on Wednesday morning, although there was a backlog of flights from Tuesday night.
The airport is advising people travelling to Mascot to allow extra time for traffic.
Weather-related emergencies
"Last night every fire truck in the Sydney and Illawarra area responded to numerous emergencies from flood rescues to house fires caused by lightning strikes," Commissioner Mullins said in a statement.
"We initially [sent] six fire trucks and 24 firefighters from Sydney to help the 17 crews in the Illawarra, who were all out on the road dealing with the incidents caused by the extreme weather.
"As the storm front moved over Sydney, crews from the Illawarra and the central coast travelled to Sydney to help deal with the influx of calls.
"At the height of the storm, more than 100 fire trucks and nearly 500 firefighters were deployed to emergencies across Sydney.
"Because of the extremely high number of calls we were receiving, off-duty firefighters were recalled around 9:30pm to staff eight additional fire engines, which were deployed across Sydney.
"At the peak of the bad weather last night – 9:30pm – we had 230 active emergencies at once.
"This morning we are assisting the NSW State Emergency Service with four fire trucks and 16 firefighters deployed to southern Sydney. This is on top of the dozens of firefighters out securing trees and wires across the greater Sydney area."
The NSW State Emergency Service responded to more than 600 calls for help by midnight and the calls were still coming in steadily, spokesman Phil Campbell said.
The SES had to rescue 40 people from their cars, most of whom had been trapped by floods.
By 4am, the SES tweeted that "the number of requests for emergency assistance has reached 1230, with 57 of these flood rescues".
A two-storey house in Kellyville was set alight at 10pm after a lightning strike started a fire. There was also a house fire in Guildford just before midnight.
Roads across the city were closed and more than 11,000 homes across the city lost power.
Power supplies
Ausgrid urged the community to stay well clear of any fallen powerlines and to be aware they might be hidden by trees.
A spokesperson from Ausgrid said that, at the height of the storm, 13,000 homes were without power as trees fell on into power lines and lightning hit electrical equipment.
Emergency crews restored power to some areas affected by the storm overnight, but more reports of power loss are expected on Wednesday morning.
The main areas affected overnight were Bexley, Bankstown, Greenacre and Kurnell in the south as well as Collaroy, Ellanora Heights and Allambie Heights on the northern beaches.
The electricity company said fallen power lines should be reported on 131 388.
Endeavour Energy said its emergency crews were responding in dangerous conditions to widespread damage to the electricity network in the upper Blue Mountains, southern highlands and the Illawarra.
About 14,000 customers, mainly in the Blue Mountains suburbs west of Blackheath through to Lithgow, were without power after heavy overnight snow falls and ice affected power supply to four zone substations, the company said.
Endeavour Energy has cancelled planned maintenance in the Blue Mountains to divert extra crews to help restore power to Blackheath, Medlow Flat, Lithgow and Hartley Vale substations.
The company said 350 properties in Arndell Park (Blacktown) and 1000 homes and businesses in the southern highlands suburbs of Bowral, Mittagong and Robertson were expected to have power restored throughout Wednesday after strong winds and torrential rain brought down power lines overnight.
Emergency crews are being hampered by the extensive road closures throughout the region, it said.
Customers should stay well clear of fallen power lines and report them on 131 003.
Weatherzone.com.au is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.
- Send us your pictures - Email us, message us on Twitter @smh.
