‘Destructive' winds, rain to hit millions across NSW, BOM forecasts conditions to intensify

Sky News AU

13 hours ago

'Destructive' winds and rain from a 'bomb cyclone' system are forecast to smash millions of Aussies across the NSW coast – and the conditions are only set to intensify in the coming days.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) have warned that winds will intensify on Wednesday morning for southern Queensland.
Sydney's eastern suburbs and coastal fringes, including Illawarra and the south coast, could face significant damage from destructive wind gusts reaching up to 125km/h.
Emergency warnings are in place for multiple regions across the two states, with 30,000 homes and businesses without power early on Wednesday morning.
Ausgrid said 10,500 customers in Sydney's north, the Central Coast and Newcastle had been hit by unplanned outages, with falling trees and powerlines to blame.
'At 6am, there are 6,500 customers out in the Hunter/Newcastle region, 3,000 in the Central Coast and just under 1,000 in Sydney,' the energy provider said in a statement.
'As the wild weather continues into the morning, there could be more outages throughout the day – as well as flooding and hidden hazards, particularly around fallen or damaged trees.'
Endeavour said nearly 17,000 customers in the Blue Mountains, Western Sydney, Illawarra and NSW had been affected, while 2,141 Essential Energy customers also woke in darkness.
The SES issued a warning for those living in low-lyng areas on the north and south of Burril Lake to shelter in place, while some households at North Entrance and Wamberal have been ordered to evacuate over risk of coastal erosion.
BOM senior meteorologist Jonathan How said heavy rainfall could occur south of Wollongong, with heavy falls also reaching up to Sydney.
Residents could be pelted with up to 120mm of rain over a six-hour period, which could lead to flash flooding, he said.
The low pressure system will push north on Wednesday and continue lashing the coast with strong winds.
Later in the day another low pressure system is expected to appear that will intensify and reinforce the winds and rain across the NSW south coast.
Conditions are not expected to ease until late Thursday – by which time rainfall totals in the area south of Wollongong could have exceeded 200mm.
Waves along the coast could exceed 6m as they hit the shore.
'With winds set to intensify and heavy rain continuing and the addition of coastal hazards, we could see some dangerous conditions out there over the next few days,' Mr How said.
'STAY HOME'
Millions have been told to stay home amid the freak weather event as ferry, bus and train services are impacted or outright cancelled.
Dozens of roads have been flooded in areas such as Byron Bay and Jervis Bay, while highways in Sydney have also experienced flash flooding.
Transport for NSW Coordinator-General Howard Collins warned commuters to stay home if they had that option.
'Whether you're travelling by car or catching public transport please allow plenty of extra time to get to your destination,' Mr Collins said.
Train services along the T1 North Shore Line were cancelled late on Tuesday due to flooding on the tracks at Town Hall.
Around 30,000 people were left without power, including 13,000 in the Newcastle area, due to the storm.
Multiple ferry routes have also been cancelled.
People who have lost power are likely to continue going without throughout Wednesday.
Since the storm started the NSW SES have responded to more than 900 call-out statewide, but the agency warned that incidents are increasing.
Originally published as 'Destructive': Winds, rain from NSW 'bomb cyclone' to intensify as workers ordered to stay home