It’s been one year since parts of NSW were battered by storms overnight when rain, hail and strong winds lashed the state.
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Parkes was among the areas worst hit on October 21, 2016 when the severe storm cell struck about 7pm.
The storm left a number of buildings damaged, numerous roads blocked from fallen trees and many thousands of Parkes residents in the dark – some for almost 20 hours – after the town’s electricity network was significantly damaged.
The clean up lasted days but for some, the storm’s aftermath and impact lasted much longer.
Here’s the story we ran last year (October 25):
Storm tears through Parkes
It came as fast as it went – Friday night’s freak flash storm left patches of Parkes in tatters and other areas escaping with just a scratch.
Hundreds of large trees were ripped out from their roots, smashing through house windows, landing on cars and blocking off roads, while many others luckily narrowly missed landing on homes.
A wall belonging to Gecko Takeaway on the Newell Highway came crashing down while the Parkes Racecourse grandstand had its roof torn from its structure, KFC lost its big bucket and the Swan Cafe’s wall also buckled.
Debris were strewn throughout streets and the flying hail stones caused almost as much damage as the strong winds.
And among it all, power lines were brought down as thousands of homes were left in darkness.
The SES received 126 calls for help, 65 of them coming within the first hour.
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Council's Director of Engineering Services, Ben Howard said after inspection staff focused on areas in Eugowra Road, Thurlstone Street, Bogan Road, Victoria Street, Henry Parkes Centre and the main street.
"Council staff worked from 7pm through to midnight (Friday) clearing the fallen trees working through priority roads and highways before moving to next tier priorities,” he said.
“At the end of [Friday] night, all roads were opened with access however debris still lined road corridors, verges and guttering in the urban sections of town.
“Council also provided assistance to emergency personnel at several locations with the wall at the Gecko Cafe on the Newell Highway collapsing across the highway and also attending to the Swan Cafe with concern of the potential collapse of their wall and awning.”
Council's Director of Infrastructure, Andrew Francis said the Parkes Water Treatment Plant was also affected by power outages.
Henry Parkes Centre complex and Parkes Pool were also hit hard, with both facilities closing on Saturday.
Council crews have been working around the clock and predict the clean-up may take weeks with many uprooted trees still to be cleared.
Council began a roadside pickup yesterday, which will continue today and tomorrow, to assist residents with the safe removal of debris, limbs and fallen trees.
4800 homes and businesses in darkness
Essential Energy crews were kept busy Friday night and into Saturday after the freak flash storm caused unplanned power outages for more than 4860 households and businesses in Parkes and the surrounding area.
Manager community relations northern, David Crough, said the storms caused significant damage to the electricity network and that Essential Energy crews first worked to ensure the safety of the public and their property, and then to restore power as quickly as safety allowed.
“The damage to the electricity network was significant and included many fallen service lines, which link homes and businesses to the electricity network, and powerlines due to the wind, trees, and damaged buildings,” David said.
“The first unplanned power outage occurred at 7.01pm and affected 861 households and businesses, the second affected 2,114 at 7.02pm, the third affected 1,818 at 7.46pm and the fourth 67 at 9.08pm.”
Essential Energy crews reduced the number of households and businesses affected by the outage from the storm to 2776 by 2am Saturday morning and then to another 1939 by 2.45am.
Crews were then able to reduce this number to 830 shortly after 9am, to 450 by midday and to 380 by 1pm Saturday afternoon.
“By approximately 2.30pm Saturday afternoon power had been progressively restored,” David said.
“To ensure power was restored as quickly as possible extra crews and equipment were brought in from Bathurst, Blayney, Condobolin, Dubbo, Forbes, Lake Cargelligo, Narromine, Orange, Peak Hill, Trundle and Wellington to assist our Parkes crews.”