BY IAN CROUCH
Hundreds of Lake Macquarie residents remain without power on Thursday morning after a wild storm tore through the region late on Wednesday afternoon.
Several trees came down in parts of Cessnock, Morisset and Southern Lake Macquarie and there were reports of flash flooding.
More than 700 homes and businesses are still without power in Buttaba, Arcadia Vale, Wangi, Dora Creek, Morisset and Martinsville.
In one incident, the roof of a carport was blown off at a home in Baker Street, Dora Creek which blew across the street, cutting power lines.
120 volunteers from 30 SES teams have been busy attending to 158 calls for help in the Northern Region of NSW which includes the Hunter.
The SES says there were 30 jobs in Cessnock, 35 in Wyong, 30 in Cooranbong and 18 in Taree.
Most of the calls were for fallen trees, leaking or damaged rooves and downed power lines.
The storms brought more welcome rain to parts of the Upper and Lower Hunter, with 40mm recorded at Broke and 31mm at Dora Creek.
