SYDNEY: A wild weather system pummelled Sydney for a second day on Wednesday (Jul 2), with the storm forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights, bringing down trees and taking out power to thousands of homes in Australia’s southeast.
Qantas Airways QAN.AX and Virgin Australia VGN.AX, Australia’s biggest airlines, have together cancelled at least 55 domestic flights in and out of Sydney on Wednesday, the airport’s website showed. Some international flights have been delayed.
Sydney’s train services have also been disrupted, with authorities urging people to avoid non-essential travel.
“Be really careful. It’s really wild out there, if you can delay travel, please do so,” New South Wales state Emergency Services Chief Superintendent Dallas Burnes told ABC News.
“As people wake today and see the damage from last night, we’re expecting a very busy day.”
A coastal low-pressure system, described by meteorologists as a “bomb cyclone”, smashed Australia’s southeast coast overnight with wind gusts of more than 100 kph, uprooting trees and damaging power lines. Roughly one month’s worth of rain fell over six hours in some regions.