Hunter Switches To Assessment And Recovery Mode After Wild Weather

 BY IAN CROUCH

The massive recovery effort is getting under way following wild weather in recent days across the Hunter.

River levels are mostly falling across the region, with eh Paterson River at Gostwyck Bridge now at 6.5 metres after peaking at 10.45 metres on Sunday morning.

The Williams River at Mill Dam falls is now below the minor flood level at 4.2 metres.

Around 1500 homes and business at still without power, with some residents in Port Stephens reporting electricity being cut again after being restored - Ausgrid these are just temporary outages.

The SES has been called to almost 2,600 jobs across the Northern Region of NSW since Wednesday night.

Chief Superintendent Andrew Cribb says the recovery effort will take weeks.

"We are still going to be mopping up, so our operations will continue as we try to get our community back to their houses in a safe state. (There's lots of)  tarping and tarp maintenance to go. We will be going for weeks," he said.

Natural Disaster declarations have been made for Port Stephens and Maitland, but Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Cessnock have not yet reached the threshold for a declaration, however the state government is still assessing the situation with assistance from local councils.

The SES has begun damage assessments in impacted areas.

Community hubs are open in Maitland and Port Stephens offering support to affected residents, while Community Liaison Officers have been deployed to Dungog, Maitland and Raymond Terrace.

Waste levy fees have been lifted in Newcastle, Cessnock, Maitland, Port Stephens and the Upper Hunter Shire council areas to allow residents to dispose of damaged items and storm debris without charge.  

SES Chief Superintendent Andrew Cribb

Massive Clean Up Continues After Wild Storm Lashes The Hunter

 BY IAN CROUCH

Emergency services have been stretched to the limit after wild storms lashed the Hunter overnight.

Almost 55,000 customers remain without power, with more than 32,000 of those in the Port Stephens area.

Ausgrid says 90% of the outages were caused by lightning strikes and complex repairs could take until later on Thursday to be completed.

Near cyclonic winds were reported in some areas, with wind gusts reportedly reaching 120km/hr at Williamtown at about 9.00pm on Wednesday.

The State Emergency Service has responded to around 500 calls for assistance, with just over 200 coming from the Maitland area alone. Many homes in the area have lost rooves and sustained flash flooding, while trees and power lines are down over a wide area of the Lower and Upper Hunter region. 

Several sets of traffic lights have also been blacked out and police are urging people to stay home unless it's essential to be out on the roads and for motorists to drive with caution.

Port Stephens SES volunteers attending to one of hundreds of trees brought down in overnight storms. Picture Port Stephens SES

 

 

Hundreds Without Power After Storm Lashes Lake Macquarie

 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.

Wild Storm Wreaks Havoc Across The Hunter

 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.

SES Performs Flood Rescues At Merewether As Fierce Storm Lashes The Hunter

 BY IAN CROUCH

Volunteers from the Newcastle SES have carried out two flood rescues after a fierce electrical storm hit the region last night.

Homes and businesses at Elermore Vale, Wallsend, Maryland and Sandgate lost power shortly after the storm moved through at about 9.00pm.

Ausgrid says 19 customers in Gunsynd Crescent at Maryland and 13 on Maitland Road at Sandgate are still without power and are not expected back on the grid until later this morning or early this afternoon.

The SES responded to 30 calls for assistance mainly for roof damage and trees down.

The SES says the occupants of two vehicles had to be rescued after getting caught in flash flooding, with water up the doors.

In one instance Newcastle Fire Command says a crew from Carrington helped a woman to safety after she became trapped in her car on Industrial Drive at Tourle Street in Mayfield West at about 9.30pm

Tocal recorded the highest rainfall during the storm with 52 millimetres, while Waratah Reservoir recorded 43 and  42 millimetres fell at the Belmore Bridge.

Welcome Rain Hit And Miss In The Hunter

BY IAN CROUCH

Some areas in the Hunter received a drenching during Thursday's spectacular electrical storms while other areas only saw light falls.

Bulladelah topped the list in the Hunter with 78 millimetres while 71 millimetres fell in the space of half an hour at Tomago and Waratah recorded 14 millimetres.

However, areas around Cessnock and Lake Macquarie had very little if any rainfall.

Up the Valley, the Barringtons Bonnie Doon weather station recorded 62 millimetres while Parkville and Cressfield.had 35, Denman had 27 and Scone 19.

The SES received 20 calls for assistance, with lightening and strong winds bringing down trees and power lines.

More than 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded in the Hunter during the storms.

Fire crews were called to a home in Anna Place at Wallsend after it was struck by lightening just before 5.30pm.

Firefighters took about an hour to extinguish smouldering insulation batts in the roof - the rest of the house was undamaged.

Ausgrid says power has been restored to more than 10,000 homes and businesses blacked out during the storms.

More showers and storms are forecast for Friday and the weekend.

Ausgrid says more than 10,000 customers lost power in the Hunter during Thursday's storms Picture: abc.net.au

Hunter Escapes The Worst Of The Wild Weather But SES Crews Kept Busy

BY IAN CROUCH

The Hunter has largely escaped the worst of the wild weather which caused havoc in Sydney, although local SES crews have been kept busy.

The Weather Bureau described an intense storm cell which passed through parts of the Upper and Lower Hunter and Port Stephens yesterday afternoon as dangerous.

Ausgrid restored power to about 1300 homes at Medowie yesterday morning, while wind gusts reached 80 kilometres per hour at Nobbys at 1.42 this morning.

Phil Campbell from the SES says crews were called out to dozens of jobs in Newcastle East and Port Stephens.

"We have had around 320 calls for emergency help in the Hunter area. Most of those have been relating to leaking rooves, but also with the strong winds that we've had overnight we have had reports of trees and branches down as well.", he said.

Meanwhile, the Hunter has had some welcome rainfall, especially in drought-affected areas.

The Singleton Army Base has recorded 52 millimetres since 9am yesterday, Muswellbrook had 45 and Scone 27 millimetres.

The highest rainfall was recorded at Seaham, which has had 76 millimetres.

The Weather Bureau is predicting a few showers today.