Sydney weather chaos: Bomb cyclone hits, disrupting transport and leaving 30,000 without power

Here’s what you need to know about the widespread disruptions caused by the wild weather overnight.

If you’re driving to work, a number of roads are closed due fallen trees and flooding. They include Galston Road, which is closed in both directions in Sydney’s north-west.

On the northen beaches, Wakehurst Parkway is closed due to flooding between Oxford Falls Rd and the Academy of Sport. Oxford Falls Rd also remains closed.

If you’re catching a plane, at least 87 flights have been cacelled at Sydney Airport with more disruptions expected throughout the day.

If you’re catching a train, there are currently no services on the T1 Western line between Penrith and St Marys and between Wyong and Fassifern on the Central Coast line due to overhead wiring repairs at Dora Creek.

Limited replacement buses are available with Sydneysiders urged to avoid non-essential travel.

If you catch a ferry, Manly services to Circular Quay have resumed after they were cancelled due to heavy swells.

Over 31,000 homes and businesses have power thanks to Endeavour, while Essential and Ausgrid customers face blackouts – with Ausgrid issuing a fresh warning of more disruptions today.

‘At 6am, there are 6500 customers out in the Hunter/Newcastle region, 3000 in the Central Coast and just under 1000 in Sydney,’ an Ausgrid statement read.

‘As the wild weather continues into the morning, there could be more outages throughout the day, as well as flooding and hidden hazards, particularly around fallen or damaged trees.’

Sydneysiders have been urged to avoid non-essential travel due to the severe weather that smashed the city overnight.

‘Please try to avoid non essential travel across the rail network today after ongoing severe weather disrupted services and caused damage to infrastructure,’ a Sydney Trains alert states.

‘If you must travel, please allow plenty of extra travel (time) to get to your destination.

‘Be prepared for disruptions, including possible road closures and public transport delays.’

Trains are not running between Penrith and St Marys on the T1 Western line due to a tree blocking the track at Kingswood.

A very limited number of replacement buses are running between Penrith and St Marys.

It’s not known when the track will be reopened.

Commuters are urged to use local bus services to get to St Marys train station.

Trains are also not running between Wyong and Fassifern on the Central Coast line due to overhead wiring repairs at Dora Creek.

Limited buses are operating between Wyong and Fassifern. A shuttle train service is operating between Fassifern to Newcastle Interchange in both directions.

On the northern beaches, Manly services to Circular Quay have resumed after they were cancelled due to heavy swells.

Check information displays for service updates & allow plenty of extra travel time.

‘We’ve seen some really significant damage,’ Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland told ABC Radio Sydney.

Local councillor Jared Wright has given an update on evacuations, power outages and road conditions on the NSW Central Coast after Tuesday’s wild weather wreaked havoc.

Wamberal and North Entrance evacuation orders

Central Coast Council staff remained on site on Tuesday night assessing the impacts of the wind and large surf after dozens of residents were ordered to evacuate their beachfront homes.

On Wednesday morning, staff had a meeting with the Local Emergency Operations Controller and coast engineer LEMO and Council staff.

‘It is understood that the work done yesterday in terms of shifting sand to bolster the dune has held up well.

Council will continue to undertake works at Wamberal today.

More than half of the 30,000 outages across NSW overnight were on the Central Coast.

Ausgrid and the NSW SES have been working through the night to restore power and thanks to their efforts, we are now down to a few thousand without power.

The main areas impacted include Matcham, Wamberal and Tumbi Umbi, where 1000 homes and businesses are still without power.

About 600 Long Jetty properties also remain without power.

The lake has risen from 0.3m to 0.4m but is still well below the minor flood level of 0.9m.

‘The channel is still flowing well and we are continuing to monitor the situation, as we are across all of our lakes and lagoons,’ Cr Wright said.

Most roads on the Central Coast remain open, with the main hazard being along the Central Coast Highway at Long Jetty.

‘Please avoid any non-essential travel and if you must use the train to head to Sydney or Newcastle, check the Trip View app before heading off as there are delays in both directions this morning,’ Cr Wright said

‘Check-in on your friends, family and loved ones and make sure they are okay and see if they need any assistance.’

A truck driver is fighting for life after a tree fell and crushed his vehicle in the NSW Southern Highlands overnight.

Emergency services were called to Berrima Road, Moss Vale, about 10.30pm on Tuesday and found a tree had fallen onto a B-Double truck, crushing the driver’s cabin.

Emergency services had to extract the unconscious driver trapped in the cabin.

The man suffered serious head and torso injuries.

He was rushed to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition.

The wild weather has sparked a second consecutive day of travel chaos at Sydney Airport.

Dozens of domestic and international flights have already been impacted with more cancellations and delays expected.

At least 87 flights have so far been cancelled on Wednesday, according to FlightRadar

The airport is operating under a Level 4 “significant” delay status.

‘Sydney Airport is working closely with airlines and Airservices Australia to manage the impact of these challenging conditions and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding,” a spokesperson said.

NSW SES has issued four emergency warnings for people to evacuate due to coastal erosion on the Central Coast in Wamberal and The Entrance.

Those living in the Burril Lake area have also been told to take shelter now due to flooding, with about 200 properties impacted, with floods reaching above floor level, the emergency service said.

A motorist in Cranebrook was rushed to hospital overnight after a large tree fell and took down high-voltage power lines in the area.

NSW SES has said it has been called to more than 2320 incidents since the start of the ‘cyclone bomb’.

Volunteers in the NSW SES Blue Mountains Unit said they have so far received 48 calls for assistance alone for the Lower Blue Mountains and a further four calls for the Upper Blue Mountains.

The wild weather has also disrupted services on rail networks, with the Central Coast and Newcastle line worst affected after trees fell on overhead wiring in two locations, including Koolewong.