Massive clean up underway after wind chaos across Sydney – with 100km/h gusts sending branches into pedestrians and houses, grounding flights and leaving 20,000 houses without power
Gale-force winds tore through Sydney on Friday, ripping roofs off buildings, sending trees crashing into pedestrians and homes and causing transport chaos.
Two people have been hospitalized after a large tree fell on them in Hyde Park in the city center and tens of thousands of homes are still without power after power lines were downed by gale-force winds.
Other large trees fell in West Pymble, crashing into a house and uprooting a gas pipe, in Bondi and in Balmain, where a fortunately empty parked car was destroyed.
Emergency services had to be called near Dick’s pub in Balmain when a canvas roof over the beer garden was blown in.
In the Inner West suburb of Drummoyne, a large section of roof was blown into the middle of a busy road landing on a car and bringing traffic to a standstill, while train commuters faced delays after tree branches fell over the tracks in St Peters fell.
At Sydney Airport, passengers suffered heavy heartbreaks during some landings and some flights were delayed, but despite crosswinds, all runways remained open until Friday evening, when seawater forced one runway to close.
South-easterly winds strengthened during the afternoon with gusts of 119 km/h recorded at Wattamolla in the south of the city, 104 km/h at Port Botany and wind speeds of over 90 km/h at the airport and in the Sydney harbour.
Passengers are urged to contact their airline directly to confirm any delays or cancellations to their flights.
The NSW SES said it had received hundreds of calls for help after gale force winds wreaked havoc in Sydney on Friday – with a clean-up operation lasting all weekend

A piece of roof was blown onto the road in Drummoyne, killing a car and bringing traffic to a standstill

A number of homes in the city were damaged after winds reached more than 100 kilometers per hour in some areas
Electricity supplier AusGrid had just restored power to 120,000 homes in Sydney’s north after heavy storms on Wednesday, when they were forced to turn off due to the wind-induced disruptions.
More than 20,000 homes in the city are without power on Friday evening.
Crews will continue to clean up damage and restore power throughout the weekend.
Sheet roofing was also blown into the SCG stands amid wild winds that blew across the ground ahead of the Sydney Sixers’ Big Bash League match with the Sydney Thunder.
Security guards were evacuating fans from a bay in the Bill O’Reilly Stand at around 6.30pm on Friday evening when the roof tiles began to flap dangerously directly above them.

Pitch covers are blown away by high winds as the match is halted due to rain during the BBL match between Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder at Sydney Cricket Ground. Part of the roof of the stands was also blown off

Trains were delayed in Sint-Pieters after a tree fell on the track

Thrill seekers on the Manly Ferry in Sydney Harbor stood outside as huge waves crashed into the boat

About 20,000 homes are without power on Friday evening
The covering fell from the bottom of the stand, but didn’t hit anyone, as applause rang out from those who had remained nearby.
The bay then remained empty as security monitored the area.
The incident occurred just one night after a small fire broke out at the Gabba during Thursday night’s match between the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, which was briefly brought to a standstill.
The two injured women, aged 35 and 66, who were struck when a huge tree fell in Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD were both taken to St Vincent’s Hospital for treatment for minor injuries.
Emergency services responded to the scene at around 3.05pm on Friday after the tree fell onto the road on the Elizabeth Street side of the park and reported people were under it.
City of Sydney officials claim the trees were only inspected in July as part of routine public safety practices, adding they would do so again as soon as the weather cleared.
The first police officers on the scene frantically combed through a sea of branches and foliage to determine if anyone had been trapped.
According to emergency services, no one was seriously injured in the incident.
The tree, on the edge of the park near St James Station, appeared to have split in two before crashing over the nearby footpath.

Two women were injured after a tree fell in Hyde Park in the CBD

The huge tree was broken in two by the wind

Both women were taken to St Vincent’s Hospital with minor injuries
According to a witness, two people were hit by the branches and knocked to the ground as onlookers ran to help.
The man, who identified himself as Chris, said he was walking along Elizabeth Street when he heard the crack of the tree and saw it crash into a woman.
“There was a gust of wind and the tree just fell,” he told AAP.
‘There was a lady in the middle. If she had been a few meters back or a few meters forward, things would have been much worse.
‘But she walked away with a few scratches, so she was really lucky. It’s such a busy traffic area, but luckily everyone was able to get away.’
At least three paramedics responded to the scene, where police diverted traffic as the tree blocked two lanes of southbound traffic.
Footage of the cleanup process shows about six emergency workers rushing to clean up the mess from the tree after the two women were rescued.
Sydney was still lashed by rain on Friday after a week of wild storms and more showers and wind are forecast for the Harbor City on Saturday, before skies are expected to clear on Sunday with temperatures reaching just 23 degrees Celsius.
Damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall have devastated not only Sydney but also the Hunter, Mid North Coast, Illawarra, Central Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains and Northern Tablelands districts in recent days.
One man in the NSW Central West town of Cowra was killed when a tree fell on his vehicle and more than 200,000 homes in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong were left without power due to lightning strikes on Wednesday.
According to Weatherzone, up to 73,700 strikes were detected within a 100km radius of the CBD on Wednesday. A total of 1.8 million lightning strikes were detected in an arc from Queensland to Tasmania over 24 hours.