Severe thunderstorms rolled into Australia’s most populated city Sydney, bringing about damaging lightning and gusts that disrupted the daily life of local residents, IANS reported.
From 11:00 am local time on Saturday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) began updating severe thunderstorm warnings roughly every 20 minutes, alerting people to the fast-moving storm cells that could cause damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The thunderstorms also triggered warnings over possible fire incidents, as local authorities were concerned that lightning associated with these storms may start fires. The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service reported that of more than 30 fires burning, only seven are yet to be contained.
After the thunderstorms started sweeping through Sydney, power lines and public transportation, including flights, were put under great pressure, with a world-level sports event forced to face cancellation due to chaos generated by the extreme weather.
Trees and fallen powerlines hit by howling winds also resulted in road closures and travel delays. In Sydeny’s Metropolitan area, numerous traffic lights either blacked out or flashed yellow due to local power failures.
