A woman has been struck by lightning, a couple trapped when their car was wrapped in fallen powerlines and roofs blown away by wild weather in NSW.
Large hailstones and damaging winds thrashed parts of the state on Tuesday, with the hardest hit areas south and north of Sydney making up a large proportion of emergency call outs.
The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms has passed, but the situation will continue to be monitored, says the Bureau of Meterology.
A severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds and hailstones is still in place for the Northern Rivers and parts of the Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands.
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) received 630 calls for assistance by 6:30pm on Tuesday, while Ausgrid received 500 reports of hazards on the electricity network and worked to restore power to 9000 homes in Sydney and the Central Coast.
Most SES call outs were for trees down and damaged roofs, including in Newport where a roof was blown away.
There was relief for parts of the fire-ravaged Blue Mountains with as much as 50mm of rain, but other areas received just 2mm and lightning sparked new blazes elsewhere.
"It was helped in some areas but in other areas, if it hasn't put the fires out, it will stop us doing back burning operations for a couple of days," Rural Fire Service spokesman Ben Shepherd told AAP.
He said there are new fires in the Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley areas, adding that the RFS would reassess the fires on Wednesday morning.
The rain caused flash flooding in parts of Newcastle.
Large hailstones hit areas in Port Macquarie.
A Catholic school in Balmain lost part of its roof as gusts of up to 90 km/h lashed the Sydney metropolitan area.
Louise McNeill escaped unscathed following a lightning strike in Kincumber on the Central Coast.
"Something hit my arm and I thought I had been struck by lightning," she told the Seven Network.
"(But) it's the tree that had been (struck) and it's affected me and had given me a jolt."
An elderly couple were trapped in their car at Lansvale, near Liverpool, for half an hour after a tree and powerlines fell on their vehicle.
They were taken to hospital with possible back, neck and limb injuries.
Trees and powerlines also fell on three people at Engadine in Sydney's south, with the trio taken to St George Hospital where they are in a stable condition.
A verandah at a boarding house in the central Sydney suburb of Newwtown also collapsed, pulling down powerlines.
A severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds and hailstones is still in place for the Northern Rivers and parts of the Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
- Keep clear of fallen power lines.
- Keep clear of creeks and storm drains.
- Don't walk, ride your bike or drive through flood water.
- For emergency help in floods and storms, ring the SES (NSW and ACT) on 132500.
