Sydney: Severe storms and thousands of lightning strikes knocked out power to the entire state of South Australia on Wednesday, energy authorities said.
South Australia is the country’s fifth most populous state, with 1.7 million people, and is a major wine producer and traditional manufacturing hub.
“No upstream supply from the transmission network. State currently without power,” state energy provider SA Power Networks said in a statement.
The Bureau of Meteorology said a vigorous cold front was moving across the state with an intense low pressure system due on Thursday. “We’ll have gale-force winds and large seas [across the south of the country]; also heavy rain and thunderstorms, which will lead to renewed river rises,” it said on its website.
“Currently, though, we have gale force wind warnings for the coastal waters extending from Perth all the way across to Adelaide.”
SA Power Networks said repairs to its transmission network were expected to be completed later in the day.
“There were more than 21,000 lightning strikes recorded over a 12-hour period from midday yesterday on the West Coast, and as a result it is likely some damage has occurred to our distribution network,” it said.
No power was flowing from the neighbouring state of Victoria into South Australia, said a spokesman for the Australian Energy Market Operator, which operates the power systems in southern and Eastern Australia.
Australian media reported that more than 5,000 were without power.
Reports also quoted Adelaide Metro as saying that trams and some train lines had been affected due to the widespread power outage.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasted severe thunderstorms for Adelaide and the Mount Lofty Ranges.
The BOM also alerted residents about worsening conditions, which were due to arrive overnight and into Thursday morning, when an intense low pressure system moves in ahead of massive, ten-metre swells forecast for the West Coast.
Officials said a flood watch was in place for the Mid North, Mount Lofty Ranges and Adelaide metropolitan districts.
This comes just two weeks after homes across the Greater Adelaide area were flooded by overflowing rivers and creeks.
Emergency Services Minister Peter Malinuaskas was briefed on the storm at a meeting of Cabinet’s Emergency Management Council earlier on Wednesday.
He said the state was prepared for the worst and 165 tonnes of sand had been bagged and distributed, as per media reports.
The state government had enacted its Code Blue to ensure there was shelter and food available for people forced out of their homes during the storm, according to the Communities and Social Inclusion Minister Zoe Bettison.
