Emergency warnings remain in place for NSW flooding
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News.com.au
16 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Telstra outage across NSW affecting more than 100,000 services across the state
Telstra customers have been unable to make emergency calls after severe weather cut off more than 100,000 services across NSW. The outage occurred along the Mid North Coast impacting calls to Triple 0 and access to mobile, NBN, ADSL and PTSN networks. Customers from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour and inland towards Grafton were impacted by the outage. A Telstra spokesman said they were making progress to restore services following severe weather in NSW. 'Widespread power outages are affecting parts of our network and our technicians are working closely with authorities to get in and bring services back online when it is safe to do so,' a spokesman said. Telstra has restored more than 40 mobile sites since the outage started with other sites and services still disrupted.' It is understood services with other telecommunication providers were also impacted by the severe weather. Optus reported its mobile network, NBN and internet services were also down at some sites along the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions. 'The recent weather event in NSW has caused major power loss due to damaging wind and rain across some parts of the state,' an Optus warning read. 'Our team are working to restore sites as soon as possible.'
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Severe weather in Western Australia's Harvey as hail like 'bullets' lash town
Residents in the town of Harvey woke to the sound of huge hailstones crashing overhead, as the region was lashed with two cold fronts over the weekend. Bee Brislin, who lives in Harvey, 139 kilometres south of Perth, said her patio was smashed with stones thicker than her fingers. "The kids woke up thinking the windows were cracking open because the hail was so loud. It was incredible," she said. Ms Brislin said some other residents were pelted with hail "the size of golf balls", which had caused significant car damage and covered the town in a sheet of ice. "It looked like it had been snowing … it was surreal," she said. It was part of the wild weather experienced across Australia over the weekend, with NSW experiencing its deepest snow in 20 years and parts of Queensland recording below-average temperatures and light snowfalls. The hailstorm at Harvey on Sunday coincided with the 61st anniversary of an extreme downpour that forced the town to evacuate. On August 3, 1964, the town was evacuated due to fear that the Harvey Weir would collapse as a result of an immense downpour. Fearing the worst, police officers knocked on the doors of homes and directed them to the Harvey Golf Club and the high school to take shelter. Residents were able to return to their homes a few days later when the storm had passed. Longtime Harvey resident Graham Hough was five years old at the time. "They [his parents] heard this ute go flying up the road with lights and sirens going. This bloke's come running out [saying] 'evacuate, evacuate. It's a national emergency,'" Mr Hough said. Ms Brislin said the coincidence of the latest storm falling on the same day as the evacuation was the "gossip of the town". According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the latest storms over the weekend were a once-in-five-year weather event. BOM senior meteorologist Jessica Lingard said Cape Naturaliste recorded a wind gust of 115 kph on Sunday, the second highest on record in August. Meanwhile, she said Bunbury recorded a gust of 91 kph, the third-highest on record in August. Ms Lingard said the last time the South West copped wind that strong was three to four years ago. "We did have those two cold fronts move through, the first on Saturday was more of a rainier system and then the one that came through yesterday was definitely the windier of the two." Some of the highest rainfall levels in the South West over the last 72 hours included Northcliffe with 76 millimetres of rainfall, Carlotta with 64mm, Pemberton with 62mm and Ravenscliffe with 61mm, according to BOM. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said there were 179 call-outs for assistance statewide relating to roof damage, trees falling down and water ingress — 21 of which were in the South West. In Perth, extreme winds damaged the roof of the IKEA building in Innaloo. The store has been closed today while repairs are underway. An IKEA spokesperson said the damage happened outside of opening hours, so no-one was injured.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Thousands without power, cut off as ‘massive' snowfall blankets northern NSW
Vehicles have been bogged, phone service cut, and thousands of residents are expected to be without power for at least another 24 hours after heavy snow blanketed parts of NSW. Parts of the state's Northern Tablelands recorded heavy snowfalls of up to 40cm at the weekend, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. BOM meteorologist Helen Reid said the snow was generated by 'a pool of cold air' that moved in over the towns of Guyra, Armidale, Uralla and Walcha. 'Many locations saw as much as 20 to 40cm of snow, with snow tending to be quite heavy at times during Saturday afternoon,' she said. 'In Queensland, snow flurries were observed across parts of the Darling Downs … these amounted to very little on the ground.' Uralla's Bolt Inn, a popular local pub, became a shelter for those seeking refuge from the icy conditions on Sunday. 'Due to the snowstorm in Uralla, the Bolt Inn will be closed until further notice as we currently have no power,' a post on the pub's Instagram account read. 'We're sheltering people on floors and chairs throughout the pub, and with many road closures we are staying safe inside.' Others were more keen to get out and make the most of the snow, with footage posted by a Guyra local showing a person skiing on the 'slopes' of the town's golf course. 'A huge thank you to our amazing staff who are here helping to keep everyone safe and warm,' the caption read. NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan said emergency services in the New England area were responding to treacherous traffic conditions caused by 'black ice', a term used to describe the formation of slippery, transparent ice over roads. 'We have road crash crews propositioned and ready to respond to any rescues, but we ask the community to please avoid unnecessary travel,' she said. 'If you do need to be on the roads in areas with snow, drive with caution, always use your brakes gently and drive slowly.' The NSW SES reported more than 100 vehicles got stuck on the New England Highway as heavy snow made driving on almost impossible. More than 6000 homes across Walcha, Guyra, Uralla and Armidale remain cut off from the power grid according to Essential Energy. This is down from the peak of 11,000 reported on Sunday morning. An Essential Energy spokesperson said crews were hoping to continue repairs on Monday morning, weather permitting. 'There is a large amount of reconstruction work required in some areas to rebuild areas of the network that have been damaged during the storms over the weekend,' they said. 'That includes the replacement of power poles. 'Helicopters and additional crews are ready to come in to support as soon as it's safe to do so.' The company also urged residents to stay away from downed power lines. Mobile phone outages have also been widely reported across the area, some of which are expected to last until late on Tuesday. In a message on their live outage tracker, Telstra said the severe weather' had caused widespread outages across the state's north. 'We're working to get everything back online ASAP. Thanks for your patience,' it read.
