More than 30,000 homes and business have been left without power after severe thunderstorms in New South Wales.
The power outages have mainly affected western Sydney, the Blue Mountains area west of Sydney, and the Illawarra, south of Sydney.
Work to restore power is ongoing.
More than 40 millimetres of rain fell in just 30 minutes in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn [[OR-bin]] during the storm.
Winds faster than 100 kilometres per her hour have been recorded at Coonamble on the state's central western planes.
Meanwhile…
Queenslanders are being told to brace for heavy rain, flooding and destructive winds as Cyclone Owen approaches.
Owen is expected to arrive in Queensland as a category-four system with winds of up to 280 kilometres per hour.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says authorities are well prepared for whatever Cyclone Owen brings when it makes landfall tomorrow morning.
