Fierce winds sent trees and large branches crashing on to roads, on parked cars and across power lines leaving homes without power throughout Canberra last night.
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Damaging winds gusting up to 100km/h began to hit Canberra from about 9.20pm. The State Emergency Service had received 31 calls for help by 6.30am this morning.
Most of the calls were for fallen trees and branches around Belconnen in the north and in Kingston, Forrest, and other suburbs in the inner south.
A large branch fell from a tall tree in Forrest just before 9.30pm, landing on a dual cab ute parked on Wilmot Crescent. The branch crushed the roof of the Volkswagen Amarok, and firefighters closed the road as they worked to remove it with chainsaws.
No one was in the car at the time, and the road was quickly reopened.
The strong winds blew trees across lines in a number of suburbs, leaving homes in Melba, Curtin, Holder, Evatt, Kaleen and Fadden without power. The exact number of homes affected was unknown.
SES Chief Officer Tony Graham said last night wind gusts were still expected to reach 75km/h at some points late last night and early this morning.
''Even at that strength we can see limbs fall and possibly trees fall so we do need to make sure that we're on top of the game if we get more calls coming in,'' Mr Greham said.
The winds also caused a number of automatic fire alarms to activate.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe wind warning as a cold front passed through southeastern NSW.
They warned that the west-to-northwesterly winds could be damaging, and passed on SES advice to move vehicles away from trees, secure loose items around the home, and keep clear of fallen power lines.
Mr Graham said the stronger winds were expected at this time of year.
‘‘This is the beginning of our storm season; normally from September onwards we’d expect to see damage and we’ve had a little bit of that over the last couple of weeks,’’ he said.
‘‘This is very typical for this time of year, so our volunteers are all trained, they’re all prepared to go at a moment’s notice.’’
Mr Graham said it was difficult to predict how many calls the SES would receive through the remainder of the night.
‘‘It’s really hard to anticipate how much work we’ll get,’’ he said.
‘‘These things just have a way of sometimes developing to be a little bit stronger than what you might think.
‘‘We’ll play it by ear and respond appropriately.’’
Anyone needing assistance should call the SES on 132 500, or triple-0 in a life-threatening situation.
