Large parts of South Australia still in the dark because of massive storm

The whole South Australia was without electricity on Wednesday after a massive storm battered the state. Although parts of Adelaide and the nearby metropolitan areas had their power restored at night, thousands of properties remain in the dark, says SA Power Networks.

Among the areas still without electricity are the Mid North, Far North and isolated parts of the Eyre Peninsula, reports Adelaide Now. Beside the power outage, large areas of SA are soaked and beaten by destructive winds and hail as big as gold balls because of two powerful storms that swept SA from Western Australia.

As of Thursday morning, the intense low pressure system was currently near Kangaroo Island and headed eastward, says Jenny Horvat, duty forecaster of the weather bureau. She warns residents to expect gale-force winds and rain of up to 40 millimetres to fall in Adelaide, plus isolated thunderstorms before the storm weaken on late Thursday.

Horvat adds the storm is moving across the Fleurieu Peninsula and expected to hit Bordertown in the afternoon and leave SA, heading toward western Victoria in the evening. The Bureau of Meteorology says the mega-storm would move through western and central New South Wales, bringing with it destructive winds, rain and isolated thunderstorms.

Despite the extreme weather, Adelaide Airport continued to operate, although some flights were cancelled or delayed by up to 12 hours, reports Sydney Morning Herald. SA Premier Jay Wetherill says because of the catastrophic damage to the state’s energy infrastructure up to the north, it would take some time before power could be returned to about 75,000 homes still in the dark.

VIDEO: South Australian weather: Widespread blackout in Adelaide as storm hits state

Source: News Video