BY IAN CROUCH
The State Emergency Service has worked through the night attending to hundreds of calls for help across the Hunter following last night's brief but very powerful storm.
The weather bureau recorded wind gusts of up to 100 km/hr at Nobbys and around 120 km/hr in the Valley when the storm hit at about 6pm.
The strong winds brought down trees and power lines right across the region - in one case the aluminium roof of a home in Rees James Road at Raymond Terrace blew off just after 6.00pm, landing 20 metres away and bringing down power lines.
Police say thankfully no-one was hurt.
More than 12,000 homes remain without power across the region, with West Wallsend, Wallsend and Toronto the worst hit, where more than 4,700 customers are waiting to be reconnected.
Ausgrid says some of the repairs are complex and won't be complete until about 11.00am on Tuesday.
Sharon Fox from Ausgrid says crews have been kept busy with calls right across the region.
"We had 309 of our requests for assistance came in from our Northern Zone - 42 of those from the City of Newcastle, 41 from Cessnock, 33 in Maitland, 27 in Muswellbrook and 20 in Port Stephens," she said.
The SES says there are around 100 jobs outstanding in the Northern Zone stretching from the Central Coast to the Queensland border, with most of those in the Hunter region.
