Man hit by lightning in severe Australian storms
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Man hit by lightning in severe Australian storms*
By Kim Christian
February 28, 2007 08:02pm
Article from: AAP
ONE man was injured by lightning, at least 12 cars were swamped by
stormwater and 19,000 homes and businesses were blacked out as
thunderstorms dumped heavy rain on Sydney today.
The storms moved across Sydney from south to east with more than 20mm of
rain recorded in the city's southwest.
The storm and its associated flash flooding and lightning caused serious
delays for people trying to travel by road, rail and air.
Flights due to depart from Sydney Airport between 2.40pm (AEDT) and
3.45pm (AEDT) were delayed, with ground crews unable to work due to
lightning strikes.
Sydney rail commuters were warned to expect delays on the Bankstown,
Inner West and South coast lines with services between Campbelltown and
Macarthur affected this afternoon.
"Buses are being arranged to operate a replacement service between
Cabramatta and Regents Park until train services can resume," a RailCorp
spokesman said.
Roads were clogged with traffic, with visibility poor and conditions
dangerous due to the weather.
Integral Energy said 19,000 homes and businesses were blacked out about
3.30pm (AEDT) and 4400 homes remain without power tonight.
In Sydney's southwest, a 52-year-old man was hit by lightning at
Narellan Road, Campbelltown at 3.20pm (AEDT), a New South Wales
Ambulance spokesman said.
The man was taken to Campbelltown Hospital where he is in a stable
condition.
Nearby at Menangle, commuters watched as cars were swamped with water
outside Broughton Anglican College.
A police spokesman said one of the vehicles was washed into a culvert,
causing water to back up and flood Menangle Rd, at Menangle. No one was
injured.
"All reports from local police are that the students from that school
are not in any danger or under threat," a police spokesman said.
The college has cancelled tomorrow's classes.
Sydney Airport reissued a warning that passengers could experience
delays this afternoon after the Bureau of Meteorology issued another
thunderstorm proximity alert.
State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman Steve Delaney said flash
flooding was recorded at Camden, Liverpool and Parramatta as the storm
crossed the metropolitan area.
He said small hailstones were recorded in the Campbelltown area.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said the storms stretched from Sydney
to the Victorian border, the central west slopes and central tablelands.
Canberra was lashed overnight by a severe hail storm which closed
schools, government departments and a university as road crews cleared
hail drifts up to one metre deep around city streets.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued storm warnings about large
hailstones, damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding at
Gosford, Newcastle, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Orange, Canberra and Goulburn
over the next few hours.
No further weather warnings have been issued for central and western
Sydney today, but forecasters are monitoring isolated cells over the
northern beaches.
More than 20mm of rain was recorded at Bankstown, Campbelltown and Lucas
Heights while 18mm of rain was recorded at the Warragamba catchment.
Weatherzone Meteorological Service said some inroads had finally been
made into the prolonged drought across much of NSW.
During February, the south coast received about double its normal
rainfall due to two heavy rainfalls earlier in the month and earlier
this week.