Storm wreaks havoc across Australia's Hunter Valley and Central Coast

Starting on the evening of June 8, gale force winds and lashing rain carved a swathe of destruction across the region, causing widespread flooding, bringing down power lines and uprooting trees that crashed across roads and onto houses. The NSW State Labor government declared the region a disaster area as the storm continued to rage.

The storm’s after-effects were severe. Within hours, more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power as wind brought down power lines and ripped up trees. One Lake Macquarie resident said she only narrowly escaped serious injury when a power pole carrying live wires crashed onto her car.

But some four days after the storm first hit, Energy Australia announced it could be “many more days” before power was restored to around 34,500 blacked-out homes. By mid-last week hundreds of severely water-damaged homes across the region were still without electricity.

During the three-day storm the State Emergency Service (SES) was swamped with calls for assistance. It was more than a week before it could report having attended to around 92 percent of 17,532 jobs. Further rain and high winds last week, however, continued to hamper SES efforts, adding new problems.

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