High winds in Sydney on Saturday caused a three-storey scaffolding wall to fall on a passing car, narrowly escaping the driveway.
The woman in her 40s was driving along Kangaroo Lane in Manly on the city’s Northern Beaches at around 4.20pm on Saturday when a structure collapsed on the roof of her car.
The woman was temporarily trapped, but managed to wriggle free before emergency services arrived.
Electric wires were also pulled down and police cordoned off the street for safety.
Officers confirmed the woman was ‘shocked’ but miraculously unharmed, but the area will remain closed until Saturday evening while emergency services clean up.
The incident was one of several in Sydney where heavy winds battered the city, including a tree branch falling on a light rail car, trapping nearly 70 passengers.
The strong and windy cold front moving across southeastern Australia is expected to bring rain and freezing temperatures for the rest of the weekend.
Damaging wind warnings have been issued for Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, with temperatures in some areas likely to drop as much as six degrees below average.
The three-storey scaffolding wall was blown down by a car driving along Kangaroo Lane in Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches at around 4.20pm on Saturday
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued extreme weather warnings for parts of all four states, with winds reaching more than 90km/h in some places.
According to the agency, damaging wind gusts are likely in the south and east, averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peaks around 100 km/h.
The coastal town of Nowra on the New South Wales south coast recorded wind gusts of 100 km/h just before 10am.
The winds are expected to affect the entire Sydney metropolitan area on Saturday evening, possibly including the higher parts of the north coast.
More than 60 passengers were trapped on a tram when high winds in Sydney caused a tree to fall onto overhead power lines
Snowstorms are also expected above the alpine regions.
More than 25cm of snow fell on Mt Buller in Victoria, with 50cm expected by the end of the day.
“The depth drops to 32 inches and the snowflakes fall beautifully,” said Rhylla Morgan, spokesperson for the resort.
Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales also received 27cm of snow overnight.
A snow camera on the village square of Mt Buller on Saturday evening shows the alpine areas getting a thick layer of snow
The situation in South Australia is particularly serious, with tens of thousands of people in the state without power due to bad weather.
Devastating winds are raging across the Adelaide metropolitan area, the state’s south-east and north, the Flinders Ranges, the mid-north, Murraylands, Mount Lofty Ranges and the north-eastern pastoral districts.
About 45,000 customers have experienced power outages since 5am on Friday due to extreme weather conditions, Cecilia Schutz, acting head of corporate affairs at SA Power Networks, said on Saturday afternoon.
Workers are still working to repair downed power lines and restore power.
State emergency services have received more than 450 calls for assistance since 8am on Friday morning, including a partial building collapse in Mount Gambier.
Most of the requests for assistance related to fallen trees and trees on cars.
The cool, windy weather is expected to gradually ease later Saturday evening but will persist through Sunday.
