Thousands of Australians without power as heavy rain, damaging winds lash NSW

18/1/2025 13:01

Tens of thousands of people in Australia's New South Wales state were without power on Saturday after a low pressure system brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.



Around 28,000 people were without power in Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, and 15,000 had no power in nearby Newcastle city and Hunter region, power company Ausgrid said on its website on Saturday morning.



The state's emergency services agency fielded 2,825 callouts for assistance since Friday, mostly for fallen trees and properties with wind damage, it said on its website.



Warnings for flooding, damaging winds and heavy rain were current for many parts of the state, the nation's weather forecaster said, adding that winds with gusts up to 100 km/h were likely over alpine areas.



The alerts come after storms this week brought down trees and power lines and left 200,000 people without power in New South Wales.