The Illawarra was buffeted by the strongest winds in the state overnight, with gusts of up to 115km/h hitting the region.
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More wild weather forecast to develop throughout Saturday, before finally easing during Sunday.
Kiama bore the brunt of the wind early Friday evening, with gusts reaching 115km/h around 6.30pm. According to the Bureau of Meterology, these were the strongest gusts measured across NSW.
In the northern part of the region, at the Bellambi Point station, gusts of 107km/h hit around 11pm on Friday.
There were 192 calls to the SES for assistance from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, with the majority related to trees down, loose items and damage to property from the wind.
There were numerous jobs still active throughout Saturday, with teams from Wollongong City, Dapto and Kiama kept busy.
A spokesman from the SES said the Dapto area seemed to be the worst affected based on call numbers.
Among the hundreds of callouts, police and Fire and Rescue services attended a partial building collapse at Wollongong Sheet Metal in Atchison Street in Wollongong.
Also in the CBD, on Market Street, SES crews were called to the Rockwall Apartment block, where roofing panels had blown off a penthouse apartment.
About 2000 proprieties across the Illawarra and Soath Coast were without power on Saturday, with Sanctuary Point the worst affected.
379 properties in North Wollongong were without power on Saturday morning, with repairs in progress, and in West Dapto, nearly 300 properties were without power.
Wollongong City Council has been forced to close its recycling centre at Whytes Gully due to damage to the roof. Shellharbour's Community Recycling Facilty at Dunmore will accept recyclables from Wollongong residents while it is closed.
In the northern suburbs, energy crews, the SES and Fire and Rescue NSW were called to multiple reports of wires down or fallen trees across power lines.
In Henley Street, a large branch crushed a parked car, prompting an SES rescue. There were no injuries.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a further warning about 10.30am, saying more damaging winds, averaging 70km/h with peak gusts in excess of 90km/h, are likely.
The wind is due to a strong cold front that swept across the state Friday.
A low pressure system associated with this front is deepening over the western Tasman Sea and will slowly move away to the east.
The wind is due to ease during Sunday.
Looking ahead to start of the week, temperatures will remain cooler than average until Thursday.
A shower or two and a top of 18 degrees is forecast on Monday, while a slight chance of rain and a top of 17 degrees is forecast for Tuesday.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
