More intense storms on the way for Australia
Pastor Dale Morgan
More intense storms on the way for Australia*
March 01, 2007 11:18am
Article from: AAP
MORE intense storms are expected to hit Sydney later today after flash
flooding and lightning caused traffic problems and blacked out 19,000
homes yesterday.
It said severe thunderstorms would hit northeastern NSW, with heavy rain
predicted.
Menangle, near southwest suburban Campbelltown, was among the worst-hit
areas during yesterday's storms, receiving 84mm of rain in just a few hours.
Flash flooding swamped Menangle Road and trapped eight cars outside
Broughton Anglican College.
Power has been restored to 19,000 homes in Sydney's southwest after a
blackout yesterday afternoon.
A 52-year-old man was hit by lightning on Narellan Road, Campbelltown
and was taken to Campbelltown Hospital in a stable condition.
Flooding was also recorded in nearby Camden, Liverpool and Parramatta,
but the State Emergency Service (SES) said the water subsided as quickly
as it arrived.
The SES received 120 calls from across NSW as the storm system stretched
from Sydney to the Victorian border, the central west slopes and central
tablelands.
About half of those calls were from residents and businesses in Sydney's
southwest requesting assistance with flooded properties and overwhelmed
roof gutters.
"We've been quite fortunate that these storms have not had large hail
nor very strong winds," SES spokesman Phillip Campbell said.
On the NSW north coast, two women were struck by lightning and taken to
hospital in stable conditions.
One of those women was thrown across the room as she grabbed hold of a
door handle at a house in Toronto, near Newcastle.
The bureau said the storms brought little rain to Sydney's catchment
areas, dropping just 12mm within Warragamba Dam since 9am yesterday.