Overnight, a major storm blew across the NSW coastline bringing heavy rain and strong winds just hours after the heatwave that ravaged the state.
Storms caused extensive damage to Central Coast and Sutherland Shire, with roofs being torn off and trees falling onto properties. Thousands of people lost power.
SES spokeswoman Stacey Phillips stated that the State Emergency Service had received 289 requests for assistance.
She said, “We’ve had a number of storm cells pass through our area. They caused damage, including trees falling, damage to roofs, and trees on property.”
The announcement comes just days after NSW experienced a scorcher of a day on Saturday. Temperatures soared into the 40s, and local residents flocked to the water to beat the heat.
Residents were encouraged to keep an eye on their friends and neighbors who may be vulnerable as a heat dome that has been spreading across Australia from the West in recent days sweltered over the state.
Western Sydney residents were the hardest hit by the extreme heat. The mercury reached 44C in Badgerys Creek shortly after 4 pm, as well as 43C in Penrith and Richmond late in the afternoon.
Heatwaves were experienced across the entire state. The central and lower west districts of the state also suffered extreme temperatures and conditions. Wilcannia, in the North West as well as Forbes and Condobolin within the Central West reached temperatures of 44C.
As the cooler weather arrived, the weather bureau released a severe warning on Saturday evening for both the Illawarra and Metropolitan districts.
The warning stated that “a southerly storm may cause damaging winds along parts of Sydney’s and Illawarra’s coasts.”
On Saturday night, winds of up to 70km/h could reach the CBD.
The forecast district of Snowy Mountains, Hunter, South Coast and Mid North Coast has also been issued a severe thunderstorm warning, which includes large hail, damaging wind and dangerous storms.
The bureau has warned that “storms will move eastward and south-eastward towards the coast.”
Around 10,000 households and businesses were without electricity due to 19 unplanned power outages on Saturday.
Ausgrid, the provider of electricity in Australia, said that all non-critical work had been halted to enable crews to turn on the power.
Heat also affected transport. Trains were forced to slow down, while the L2 Randwick light rail service and L3 Kingsford services came to an abrupt halt after a blackout earlier that day.
Sydney Airport stood out along with the Western suburbs of the city.
Jordan Notara, a Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist said that Sydney Airport had observed 43.5°C at around 1 pm this afternoon. This broke the previous December record of 43.2°C from 1994.
Heatwaves across the state have led to a 20% increase in the number of emergency calls.
Mark Gibbs, chief superintendent of NSW Ambulance said that by midnight this would amount to 500 additional calls.
The resources will continue to monitor the situation into evening.
More than 100,000 people are expected in Homebush on Sunday evening to attend the Sydney Olympic Park entertainment event.
The temperature had been close to 43C earlier in the day, but it had fallen to 36C at 6pm. Partygoers, and especially those who were taking drugs, are still urged to drink plenty of water.
Transport for NSW Coordinator-General Howard Collins stated that organisers allowed attendees to bring their own water bottles.
The ABC reported that people attending an event, a music electronic festival, had heeded the message to “stay safe”. While some people considered cancelling because of the heat, they decided to go ahead.
Why would we want to cancel after spending so much on our tickets? A group of festival goers asked.
Everything will work out if we are hydrated and responsible.
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