Weather News

Clean-up begins after wild winds lash Sydney

Residents across Sydney are cleaning up after wild weather lashed the region on Friday afternoon.

Emergency services received more than 1,000 calls for help as were recorded.

Around 2,000 homes remain without power.

Emergency services worked through the night to clear downed trees and power lines across the Illawarra, Sydney and Hunter region.

The SES says they still have around 500 jobs to attend to and it will take all weekend to complete the task.

SES spokeswoman Erin Pogmore says the damage is extensive, with Sydney's southern and northern suburbs most affected.

"With those severe winds that we had coming through and particularly those large wind gusts, we did see that trees coming down quite a bit but also roofing was being removed as well," she said.

"So there is quite a bit of damage that our crews are out looking after."

The wild winds caused havoc across the city.



A school was evacuated on Sydney's northern beaches after strong winds blew the roof off one of the buildings.

At Kensington, the city's east, city-bound lanes on Anzac Parade was closed to traffic because of police concerns about the stability of scaffolding on a building site.

At Little Manly, three boats came off their moorings and washed onto the beach.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the wild weather has now moved well off the coast of NSW.

However winds could still reach up to 90 kilometres per hour in some areas.

Meanwhile, a bushfire is continuing to burn adjacent to the F6 freeway north of Wollongong.

Over 90 fire fighters have worked overnight, but they are seeking to put in place containment lines around the fire at Maddens Plains.

It has burnt out around 900 hectares of bushland but there is no current threat to property.

The northbound lanes of the freeway remain closed with traffic being diverted onto the old Princes' Highway.


- ABC

© ABC 2012

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