Friday, August 10, 2012

Tens of thousands without power as high winds and heavy rain lash Sydney - @ABCNews

More than 30,000 homes and businesses are without power across Sydney after wild weather lashed the city.

The worst-affected areas are in the north-west at Ryde, Gladesville and Hunter's Hill.

Emergency services have received more than 1,000 calls for help, and winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour have been recorded.

On the roads, downed trees and powerlines are adding a dangerous element to the evening's peak hour traffic.

State Emergency Service spokeswoman Becky Gollings is warning motorists to be careful.

"We're just reminding people to take it easy if they are out on the road, drive to the conditions," she said.

Public transport has also been affected, while at Sydney's Airport, domestic flights are running up to an hour late.

Earlier today a school was evacuated on Sydney's northern beaches after strong winds blew the roof off one of the buildings.

One of the boys at St Paul's Catholic College, in Manly, suffered minor injuries.

Annie Carrette from the Broken Bay Diocese says students will have a long weekend because of the damage.

"It is quite significant, although we are looking to re-open the college perhaps next Tuesday," she said.

"Parents involved with the college can know, Monday (it's) definitely closed."

Weather forecaster Jake Phillips issued a warning about the cool and blustery conditions.

"It's going to be quite breezy, as it is already, and it's going to make things feel a lot colder than they actually are," he said.

"For example, at the current time our temperatures around Sydney are generally between about 11 and 13 degrees, but with all that wind around the apparent temperature feels more like about four or five degrees.

"So heading for a maximum of 15 or 16, but it really won't feel like it. If you're out in the wind it's going to feel quite cold indeed."

At Kensington, the city's east, city-bound lanes on Anzac Parade have been closed to traffic because of police concerns about the stability of scaffolding on a building site.

Fire brigade Superintendent Tom Cooper says some of the structure has come down.

"We've got a partial building collapse there," he said.

"It's actually a steel structure on top of a building and it's come down on the western side of the building so as a precaution firefighters have closed Anzac Parade.

"Traffic police are in attendance there and they've set up a 50 metre exclusion zone."

Meanwhile, trains on the inner-west line between Ashfield and Redfern have been suspended because of a tree which is threatening to fall on overhead wiring.

At Little Manly, three boats have come off their moorings and washed onto the beach.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the wild weather is easing in the city and moving further north to the Hunter region.