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Elderly man freezes after days without power

An elderly man is being treated for hypothermia after spending three days in his New South Wales home without electricity.

The man, aged around 70, was found at Blackheath, west of Sydney, on Friday afternoon.

He has been taken to the Blue Mountains Hospital.

More than 2,000 homes in the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the Shoalhaven areas remain without power following damaging winds earlier this week.

Regional State Emergency Service volunteers have joined hundreds of other emergency services workers in Blackheath to repair wind and storm damage from this week's wild weather.

Police and SES workers have urged people to check on relatives in the affected areas.

Geoff Leech from the SES says it is very cold and many of the residents whose homes have been damaged are quite traumatised.

"We are seeing a lot of very, very distressed people," he said.

"They're doing it a bit tough down here at the moment because during the day with the wind chill factor you're still looking at freezing temperatures and I don't know how they're coping, to be honest.

"There's powerlines down all over the place which makes working in some of these situations very dangerous."


- ABC

© ABC 2011

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