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Posted: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 06:53:02 GMT

More than 100,000 people in New South Wales are spending their Saturday night in the dark after a supercell storm left them without power causing traffic chaos, flight delays and bringing trains to a complete standstill.

Residents along the length of the NSW coast are being battered with heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones as the storm cell lashes the state.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the state’s east with damaging winds up to 90km/h possible including in Sydney, the Hunter Region and the Blue Mountains.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned multiple cells were converging on Sydney and a particularly “dangerous thunderstorm” was encroaching on Newcastle.

Storms have also been lashing Victoria and Queensland.

Yesterday afternoon, Melbourne received a drenching of rain that saw the city receive more than 30mm in 15 minutes. The SES also received more than 720 callouts in 24 hours since Friday 9am.

Cyclone Owen, in far north Queensland, has also weakened but still has residents on high alert with emergency services warning some areas could be hit with flash flooding tonight.

Sydney’s storm cell has already caused heavy rainfall, destructive winds and giant hailstones with more wild weather expected.

Endeavour Energy is working to restore power to around 54,000 homes and businesses in Sydney’s north west.

“As the storm has brought down trees across the region, residents are reminded to stay well clear of fallen powerlines,” a spokesman said in a statement.

Ausgrid is also reporting blackouts through the Central Coast and Hunter Valley.

There is no clear timeline for when the power will be restored.

Parts of the city’s train network have ground to a halt again with a power outage and debris on the track stopping trains between Parramatta and Granville.

The Northern Line is also experiencing power failures which have stopped lifts and Opal card systems.

The Western Line is also down due to power failures.

A spokesman told news.com.au passengers at Sydney Airport were facing flight delays of up to an hour as lightning filled the sky around the domestic terminal.

While flights are continuing for international passengers, those flying domestically are being urged to contact their airline for any updates before arriving to the airport.

Hail pelted down on resident in Campbelltown, with reports of power outages across parts of the Sydney metro area.

Residents in the Hills district in Sydney’s north west reported dozens of trees had fallen during the storm, with some blocking major roads around Parramatta.

On Friday, Dungong in the Hunter Region received 40 millimetres in just 30 minutes yesterday afternoon as heavy rains drenched much of NSW.

The stormy conditions around the east coast of the state, combined with a car crash on the Harbour Bridge led to peak-hour gridlock with lengthy delays on major arterial roads on Friday. Southbound traffic was queued back into the Lane Cove Tunnel while northbound traffic stretched over the Anzac Bridge to Rozelle, the Transport Management Centre said in a statement. Buses were delayed up to 30 minutes. Elsewhere flooding caused road closures and trains were cancelled due to the severe weather.

Northern lines trains were “bumper to bumper” between Milsons Point and Central, one guard said, after lightning strikes caused delays.

The storm front initially moved across parts of Wollongong, Sydney and Newcastle early on Thursday evening.

Emergency crews worked through the night to restore power to more than 40,000 homes.

Some 470 homes remained without power on Friday evening mostly in and around Warragamba and Silverdale.

The State Emergency Service received 1700 calls for help across NSW and responded to 866 jobs with leaking roofs and downed trees the most common issues.

The SES had to rescue three people from flooded cars in Sydney and four in Albury.

A spokesman warned motorists to avoid unnecessary travel on the weekend and to be vigilant on the roads.

Lightning strikes affected flights at Sydney Airport with 30 domestic flights delayed or cancelled by 5pm on Friday.

Meanwhile, some of Sydney’s wildlife have been left fighting for their lives as storms continue to lash the state.

One moment, Lars, Kirk and James were nestled in the warm haven of their mother’s pouch — the next, their lives were turned upside down by a horror thunderstorm.

The ringtail possum joey triplets from Sydney’s southeast had only been just brought into the world and all they had known of it was the comfort of their parent’s pouch before tragedy struck yesterday.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, their mother had been going about its everyday possum business among the branches of Fitzpatrick Park’s trees in Kensington when an ominous storm began to loom overhead.

When the frightening storm threw lashing winds, driving rain and cracks of thunder down on the tiny park, she clung to branches in a desperate attempt to weather the onslaught.

But, somehow she was knocked from her perch and the three triplets were sent hurtling towards the ground.

The tiny marsupials were left writhing in agony as their mother, presumably still terrified by the storm, fled, confused and alone.

It wasn’t until many hours later that I stumbled across one of the joeys screeching for help among the park’s vegetation as I was ambling home from work.

And, to my surprise, I could hear a similar high-pitched whining emanating from the ground just metres away from the distressed native mammal — where its brother lay in a heartbreakingly similar predicament.

Thinking I had gone insane and trying not to step on the helpless joeys, I heard the sound yet again and found the third sibling crying out.

All three were already dehydrated and life-threateningly cold — and, worryingly, I could hear another bout of thunder and rain creeping closer.

RSPCA NSW put me on to an incredible NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) volunteer called June, who remarkably arrived at the scene within minutes despite heavy traffic and driving rain.

With the help of my mate Tom, who christened the little fellas Lars, Kirk and James after the members of his favourite band Metallica, we shepherded them into a padded wine box and handed them over to June with our fingers firmly crossed.

She told us that possum joey triplets were very rare and these guys were particularly young and vulnerable to be exposed to the outside world in such a cruel way.

We knew from the offset that their chances were slim.

The next day I looked at my phone to see a message from June. The triplets had been battling through the night on feeds of fluids and milk, and at midnight she thought they might survive through the to the morning.

But tragically, all three didn’t make it.

“They at least were warm and had full tummies,” the valiant volunteer told me, comfortingly. “We all wished for a happier outcome.”

MORE STORMS ON THE WAY

A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of Queensland’s north coast as tropical cyclone Owen will move over the northern interior today.

Six-hour rainfall totals between 100-200mm are possible, particularly with thunderstorms, are forecast, with flash flooding expected.

You can stay across all the tropical cyclone Owen updates here.

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