Storm

More than 11,000 properties across the Sydney area are without power following severe weather which brought strong winds, hail and rain.More than 400 calls for help have been made to Fire and Rescue NSW.Transport is down in some areas of Sydney.More than 11,000 homes and businesses are without power across the Sydney area after a severe thunderstorm hit the area.The front moved through Sydney from 5.30pm, bringing with it strong winds, rain, hail and thousands of lightning strikes.There were more than 250 calls to Fire and Rescue NSW for help within the first two hours, with the number of calls at more than 400 as of 9.30pm.Campbelltown received small hail and recorded the most rainfall with 39 millimetres.Visibility and temperatures plummeted as some areas experienced wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour, before the storm tracked off the coast.
As of 8.45pm, Endeavour Energy's website showed more than 4,400 homes and businesses without power, and Ausgrid more than 7,350.Fire and Rescue NSW acting superintendent John Moore said the storms swept right across the metropolitan area from the southern suburbs to the Northern Beaches.In the south-west suburbs we had some flooding, some hail. We've had trees down — no real roofs off or anything like that, but we've had minor damage with tree limbs on roofs," he said.Superintendent Moore said a "notable incident" was a tree which had fallen across a house in Hornsby, trapping an occupant, but without injury."Fire and Rescue attended to the tree. They had to call in SES for assistance and an electrical authority as well," he said."The occupant left house safely."He said a shopping centre in Campbelltown had some flooding in the concourse and a couple of residents reported roof leaks.Sydney's transport system has been dealt a blow, with delays on the T1, T2, T3 and T5.Metro services on the M1 North West and Bankstown are running again along the entire line after what the Transport Management Centre says was a power issue between Barangaroo and Victoria Cross earlier.Services are not stopping at Crows Nest though due to an issue with the doors on the platform.The storm outbreak was caused by cold polar air surging north from Antarctica combining with warm humid March air that generally resides over New South Wales.On Friday it is expected the coastal low will rapidly intensify, and that has triggered multiple warnings.It could also be the coldest March day in decades for the state's south east.