Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Severe weather in western NSW cuts power in outback towns

Severe weather in far west New South Wales has cut power and caused property damage in several outback towns.

Cymbric Vale Station owner Michael Anderson said it was "quite incredible" to receive 46 millimetres of rain at his property, about 180 kilometres north-east of Broken Hill.

"Probably something you're only going to see once or twice in your life really," he said.

He said it had been more than 10 years since he last saw a similar downpour.

"But fingers crossed, don't have any of the damaging rain that we had in 2011," Mr Anderson said.

Storms at the weekend struck down 10 cement power poles.

Mr Anderson said his electricity was cut and he had been using a generator since Sunday morning.

Cymbric Vale Station received soaking rain.(Supplied: Britt Anderson)

But it was not "much to worry about" on his end, as seeing the current state of his property was "amazing".

"It's about as good as it can get, you've sort have got to pinch yourself really, it's magnificent," Mr Anderson said.

Widespread outages

An Essential Energy spokesperson said the towns of Tibooburra and Packsaddle were expected to have no power until Wednesday evening.

Other locations affected included White Cliffs, Wilcannia and Menindee.

White Cliffs and Menindee's mobile and fixed line phone services were down due to battery back up being exhausted and generators not functioning.

"Additional crews are being brought in from out of area to assist with repairs," the spokesperson said.

"Essential Energy will also install a truck-mounted generator in the Tibooburra township to provide supply to a number of premises.

The spokesperson said anyone who saw fallen or damaged powerlines or poles needed to remain at least eight metres away and report the damage to Essential Energy immediately.

Uncertain on full extent

New South Wales State Emergency Service Broken Hill unit commander Ian Harvey said he was uncertain on the full extent of the damage in the city.

"A lot of trees have fallen, either across people's driveways, through people's fences on their verandahs, and a phone line," he said.

"We've had a couple of [trees] laying on top of houses, but no actual structural damage."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.