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2.30pm: A man has been airlifted to hospital after strong winds blew down a brick wall at an industrial complex in Mittagong. NSW Ambulance said the man, 50, was trapped with head and chest injuries. Source: SOUTHERN HIGHLAND NEWS
2.29pm:
12.15pm: State Emergency Service crews responded to more than 600 calls for help in the wake of the winds that hit on Tuesday night.
Strong winds lashed the region, with Albion Park recording wind gusts of up to 115 km/h at 4.15pm and Bellambi Point reporting 113 km/h at 7:30pm. Read more here.
11.52am:
11.30am: Because of today's strong winds, the State Emergency Service has advised people should move vehicles under cover or away from trees and secure or put away loose items around your house, yard and balcony.
This includes trampolines as SES crews reported a number of incidences of trampolines flying away in the strong winds.
Also, people are advised to watch out for fallen trees or debris on the road and to keep clear of fallen power lines.
11.24am:
11.05pm: A customer of Abbey Fireplaces ended up staying longer then he expected after wild winds brought down a tree in Albion Park.
At about 4.30pm on Tuesday, the winds brought down a large tree at the business’ side car park, which in turn brought power lines down across the driveway. Read more here.
11am: The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting another windy day, though not as bad as what the Illawarra experienced on Tuesday night.
The Bureau issued another warning today for damaging winds around 60 to 65km/h with peak gusts of 90 to 100 km/h for parts of the Illawarra and South Coast.
‘‘A low pressure trough will cross southeast NSW this morning,’’ the warning states.
‘‘This system is weaker than that of yesterday though gale-force winds are likely to redevelop later this morning in southeastern districts and possibly the Sydney Metropolitan Area. The gales will combine with snowfall over the Snowy Mountains to produce blizzard conditions.’’
10.10am: Wollongong Hospital said noone had been brought in appearing to suffer any injuries related to the wild winds.
9.55am: After a wild, windy night, Endeavour Energy crews have managed to restore power to most homes who lost it. The strong winds brought down trees and power lines, which left 5274 homes without power in the Illawarra.
An Endeavour Energy spokeswoman said all but 900 of those homes have now had their power restored and crews will continue working on the problems through Wednesday.
9.40am: The Bureau of Meteorology says a low pressure trough will cross southeast NSW on Wednesday. Damaging, gale-force winds averaging 60 to 65 km/h with gusts of 90 to 100 km/h are expected to redevelop in the Illawarra.
Gale force winds will combine with snowfall over the Snowy Mountains to produce blizzard conditions.
9.30am: Nowra SES Unit on Tuesday.
8.55am:
7.54am:
7.51am:
7.45am:
EARLIER: Destructive winds have wreaked havoc across the Illawarra, felling trees and power lines, leaving thousands of homes without power, and damaging others.
Illawarra and South Coast State Emergency Service volunteers responded to more than 394 calls for assistance on Monday night and Tuesday as wild winds lashed the region.
The highest wind gusts in the Illawarra were recorded at Albion Park with 117km/h at 4.23pm, closely followed by Bellambi with 107km/h at 4.47pm.
SES volunteers were called to a range of jobs, the majority concentrated around Nowra and the Wingecarribee Shire earlier in the afternoon.
By about 5pm, the number of calls for assistance in the Wollongong area increased as the strong winds moved north. The majority of calls were for fallen trees, with more than 80people calling for help with damaged roofs.
Fire and Rescue NSW inspector Greg Houston said all local resources were out attending incidents on Tuesday night and assistance from Sydney crews was required.
He said the winds had caused ‘‘widespread damage’’ with trees and power lines across roads, and homes across the region losing parts of their roofs after being hit by falling branches. Fortunately, he said there had been no loss of life reported by 7pm.
In the Illawarra region, 5274homes were without power at 5.30pm due to fallen power lines. In the Shoalhaven, the number was 3569.
An Endeavour Energy spokeswoman said the company was expecting to restore supply to many customers later on Tuesday if the strong winds abated as forecast.
SES acting deputy region controller Alex McFadden urged members of the community to be vigilant for any damage caused by the winds.
‘‘The majority of jobs are trees down or threatening to collapse but we’re also seeing more people reporting roof damage as well,’’ she said.
‘‘The best thing to do is to call for assistance and we’ll send a team around to help.’’
Wednesday is again predicted to be windy, with westerly gusts between 30km/h and 45km/h increasing to 60km/h in the morning then becoming light in the late evening.
The temperature for Wednesday is expected to hit 17 degrees.
The rest of the week is tipped to be fine and sunny, with a maximum of 19 degrees predicted and minimums between 12 and 13degrees.
In the event of an emergency, the SES can be contacted on 132500.