Power Outages, Train Delays as Storms Slam Eastern NSW
- admin928749
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
Wild weather has wreaked havoc across eastern NSW, leaving thousands without power, train lines down, and emergency services stretched to the limit.
From Sydney to the South Coast and all the way up to Lake Macquarie, the storm system has battered communities with heavy rain, fierce winds, and flash flooding.
Things turned chaotic on Tuesday afternoon. In Lake Macquarie, 60 train passengers had to be evacuated after power lines fell on the train at Dora Creek. Meanwhile, in Sydney’s west, a tree came crashing through a train driver’s window, leaving passengers stranded for nearly an hour.
The Illawarra and South Coast copped the worst of the rain as strong winds lashed the coastline. In fact, places like Ulladulla saw 83mm of rain in just eight hours, and Kiama wasn’t far behind with 70mm.
And it wasn’t just rain. Wind gusts hit around 90km/h in areas like Montague Island, Kiama, and Point Perpendicular — with warnings they could ramp up to 125km/h overnight.
The NSW SES received over 1300 calls in 24 hours, including two flood rescues, and about 9000 homes and businesses lost power.
More than 40 homes on the Central Coast — particularly in Wamberal and North Entrance — were evacuated due to coastal erosion threatening their safety. Meanwhile, residents in Jervis Bay, Ulladulla, and Batemans Bay were told to hunker down and stay indoors.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib urged people to take warnings seriously.
“This is not the time for complacency,” he said. “The situation is going to worsen over the next 24 hours.”
Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz praised the incredible effort of more than 1200 SES volunteers working non-stop, saying,
“The weather is still deteriorating in some areas of NSW. Please heed the warnings and stay safe.”
The chaos extended to the transport network. Train services were disrupted across multiple lines, including the T1 North Shore, Western, Blue Mountains, and Hunter lines.A tree even smashed through a train windscreen at Kingswood, taking down power lines and forcing services to a halt.
Commuters like Mike Crabtree were stuck near Penrith for an hour.
“My missus told me I might have train trouble — and I risked it. So there you go.”
Another passenger, Benji Sitter, was left stranded trying to get to MMA training.
“Now I can’t get to Blacktown, and the trains aren’t running back up the mountains either. It’s freezing, it’s pouring… full torrential storm.”
Flood watches remain in place across much of NSW and parts of southeast Victoria, with particular concern for the Mid North Coast, Hunter, Hawkesbury-Nepean, Sydney, Illawarra, South Coast, and Snowy catchments.
The storm’s far from over. Authorities are urging everyone to stay indoors, avoid non-essential travel, and keep an eye on weather updates. Stay safe out there.
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