South Australia is bracing for a second day of severe weather with heavy rain and destructive winds to lash large parts of the state.
Some areas remain without power this morning as South Australians wake to more extreme weather conditions.
A severe weather warning is in place for large parts of the state, including Adelaide, the mid north, the Eyre Peninsula and the Mount Lofty Ranges.
An intense low pressure system is currently near Kangaroo Island and expected to track east, moving south of Adelaide and towards the Victorian border by mid afternoon.
The winds ripped at least 22 transmission towers from the ground across the mid-north with about 80,000 lightning strikes hitting the state, some damaging generation facilities.
That caused automatic emergency systems to cut power across South Australia with SA Power Networks reporting 200,000 customers were left without electricity.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the wild weather still to come could produce wind gusts of up to 140km/h, especially along the west coast of Eyre Peninsula and up to 100mm of rain across the Adelaide Hills, bringing the risk of flooding.
A flood warning was also issued for Port Pirie, north of Adelaide, because of a storm surge and high waves.
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 450 calls for help on Wednesday and chief officer Chris Beattie said the wild weather would continue for at least another day.
"There's still the potential for significant severe weather damage," he said.
"We do have concerns for the coastal defences."
The SES has brought in strike teams from Western Australia to bolster local crews.
A storm 'a preview of climate change'
The Climate Council has blamed global warming for the wild weather battering South Australia.
Professor Will Steffen said the storm is "a disturbing preview of what's likely to come if Australia fails to act on climate change".
He said the atmosphere is packing much more energy than 70 years ago, which contributes to the increasing intensity of storms and increased rainfall.
