Violent storm lashes Sydney

STREETS, RAILWAY STATIONS, HOMES FLOODED ‘It’s the sort of rainfall you’d expect to see once every 100 years.’

Torrential rain and gale force winds lashed Australia’s biggest city of Sydney yesterday, causing commuter chaos, flooding streets, railway stations and homes, grounding flights and leaving hundreds of people without electricity.

Police called on motorists to stay off the roads.

One person was killed in a car crash and two police officers seriously injured when a tree fell on them as they helped a stranded driver.

Greg Transell, an office manager in Sydney’s north, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that strong winds caused widespread disruption to the tower block office where he works.

“I started to go upstairs to see if there was any damage and next minute there was an almighty bang and it ripped panels off the roof in the warehouse,” said Transell.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology in Sydney got more than 100 mm of rain in just a few hours, a level that the country’s most populous city would normally get through the whole of November.

“That’s the sort of rainfall you’d expect to see once every 100 years,” said Ann Farrell, the bureau’s state manager.

The rain offered a welcomed respite to farmers who have suffered through a sustained drought in recent months, but it caused major disruptions to transport.

Sydney airport, the country’s busiest, said 130 flights had been cancelled or delayed after it was forced to close two of its three runways.

“The storm is pretty intense in and around the airport,” said Cait Kyann, an airport spokesperson.

“We are operating from a single runway, so that means that there are delays and likely some flights will be cancelled.”

Ausgrid, the nation’s biggest electricity network, said the storm had cut power to 8 100 customers in Sydney and the Central Coast area to its north.

By late afternoon, 1 700 homes and businesses remained without power, Ausgrid said.

The storm struck only hours before the main morning peak hour, transforming some streets into fast-flowing rivers and parks into lakes.

Several stranded motorists were plucked from rising floodwaters. –