A man was killed by a fallen tree as heavy rain, winds and lightning lashed a swathe of the nation's southeast on Wednesday.
The driver, believed to be in his 80s, was killed in Cowra as a thunderstorm tore through central NSW before settling over Sydney and the coast.
Parts of Queensland were also in the firing line on Thursday with severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hailstones cutting a swathe across the state's southeast.
Areas affected included Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Gympie, with trees uprooted and power cut to thousands of homes on Thursday afternoon.
Yet more damage could be on the way, with up to 200mm of rain in a 48-hour window forecast for parts of the NSW north coast as severe storms persist.
Storm warnings have been issued in those northern areas, while flood warnings are in place for areas including the Northern Rivers, mid-north coast, Hunter and Central Coast.
⚠️⛈️Severe Thunderstorm Warning - Southeast Queensland— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) for DAMAGING WINDS and LARGE HAILSTONESFor people in parts of Gympie Council Area.Severe storm near north of Gympie.Details: https://t.co/vYLHCna3or pic.twitter.com/iXwgI3CqD8January 16, 2025
NSW SES commissioner Mike Wassing said the worst storms were expected to hit from Port Stephens to South West Rocks and in far-northeast NSW.
"People should prepare themselves now, know their risks and never drive, walk, ride or play in flash flooding should they come across a flooded road or causeway," he said.
"We know families are still enjoying school holidays, but if you do find yourself camping alongside a river or creek, understand your risk and move to higher ground if required."
Four people were injured in Wagga Wagga when high winds ripped off the roofs of their demountable huts.
The Bureau of Meteorology monitored a cold front moving across NSW, trailing a mass of warm, humid air on Wednesday.
Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds have felled trees and power lines in NSW and Queensland. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
Senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said it created the perfect environment for the widespread and dangerous thunderstorms.
"The system responsible is just hanging on around the coast ... unfortunately for those northern coastlines, it is another couple of wet days with that storm risk continuing," Ms Bradbury said.
SES crews in NSW have responded to more than 3000 incidents since Wednesday morning, predominantly for fallen trees and property damage.
More than 155,000 customers experienced blackouts during the peak of the outages.
☔ It's been a busy 24 hrs for the NSW SES.— NSW SES (@NSWSES) There have been 2,500+ incidents logged with around 1,300 of those jobs to be cleared up today. We're expecting follow up storms today and further rainfall over the next 24 hrs in the Mid North coast and North East regions of the NSW pic.twitter.com/gq7qFKLUgkJanuary 16, 2025
Newcastle bore the brunt, with more than 60,000 power users affected, with 31,000 outages in Sydney and 4000 on the Central Coast, distributor Ausgrid said.
Almost 90,000 customers were still without power about midday on Thursday, with Ausgrid blaming more than 300,000 overnight lightning strikes for the outages.
Supply to 55,000 customers in the Blue Mountains, Sydney's west, the Illawarra region and the south coast was impacted, with 20,000 since restored, Endeavour Energy said.
The heaviest rainfall came on the south coast, where 127mm fell at Eurobodalla and 102mm at Barlows Bay in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday.
Up to 100mm of rainfall is predicted in some areas on Friday.
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