Electricity distributor Ausgrid has said that around 30,000 customers are without power in Newcastle, the Central Coast and parts of Sydney.
Another large distributor, Endeavour Energy, said 33,000 customers were affected across Sydney’s west, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
Sailing tournament chaos
The end of the SailGP race at Barangaroo, in central Sydney, had just finished when a catamaran’s sail was caught up in the gales.
Dramatic video has shown the wind smashing through the Canadian boat’s sail ripping it apart.
It was attached to a crane and soon became partially untethered.
The battered sail then ricocheted around the site tearing through marquees and fences. People can be seen running from the huge sail as it lurches around still attached at its top to the crane.
Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman Adam Dewberry told The Daily Telegraph the temporary structures set up for the race were “seriously damaged”.
SailGP has cancelled Sunday’s events due to the chaos caused by the storm.
“After racing today at the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, a major weather event occurred that has resulted in significant damage to the wing sails and at least one boat at the SailGP technical site.
“As far as we know, no one was seriously injured during the incident. As a result of the damage, SailGP has had to cancel racing for the second day of the Sydney event,” a statement posted on social media read.
The State Emergency Service said there had been 277 calls for assistance across the region.
Trains services were affected by trees on the line. The T1 North Shore line saw trains cancelled between Gordon and Hornsby; T2 Northern line services were also cancelled around Hornsby and T1 Western line trains were not running between Mulgrave and Vineyard.
Sunday should be calmer and cooler in Sydney with a high of 27C and winds of around 15-20km/h. Penrith will likely hit 30C.
Temperatures will rise again on Monday with 30C in the CBD and 35C at Penrith.
Newcastle should see 29C on a partly cloudy sunny and 33C on a sunny Monday.