His rescue was a team effort from people nearby, including his father and some of his neighbours.

One, 22-year-old Andrew Withers, first saw the wind tip over a wheelie bin before it felled the tree.

Mr Withers then saw the boy's father rushing over as his son had both his legs trapped under its trunk.

He called triple 0 and within minutes the ACT Fire Brigade had arrived. It was in these minutes Mr Withers and the boy's father were able to summon another neighbour, Jason Syphers, who used a chainsaw to cut the boy free.

Mr Withers said, ''Everyone joined together to help out. It was uplifting.''

The boy, of Hopwood Place, Kambah, was described as pale from shock when he was rescued.

Paramedics stabilised him at the scene and took him to Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.

The boy and his family had only recently moved into the street.

The ACT Emergency Services Agency received 76 calls for help yesterday because of damage caused by wind and rain.

The agency sent out 10 ACT State Emergency crews, two ACT Rural Fire Service crews and the ACT Fire Brigade to attend to calls across the city. Most involved fallen trees and leaking roofs.

A job at a Cornish Place home in Holder involved a large tree falling in the wind and flattening a carport. The two cars inside were unscathed, but the crew at the scene had to cut the tree away and assess the damage to the home next door.

About 200 ActewAGL customers had lost power in Canberra's northside, southside and in Pialligo as of 8.15pm. Crews worked late into the night and it was not known when power would be restored.

The ACT State Emergency Service advised all Canberrans to spend some time preparing for storms in the coming days. Roofs should be checked for cracks and broken tiles, gutters and downpipes should be cleaned.

The outside of the home should be checked for loose objects that could be lifted and thrown by strong winds in storms.

A Storm Safe awareness campaign is to be launched on Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a cold front moving across the region caused the windy conditions and showers. A high-pressure system is expected to bring a return to fine conditions by tomorrow with winds easing. Maximum temperatures will climb for the second half of the week.

Today is forecast to include early showers about the mountain ranges on an otherwise fine day. Moderate to fresh westerly winds are to ease. The mercury is set to rise to a top of 14 degrees with a low of 2 degrees and a 20 per cent chance of more rain.

Tomorrow is expected to be fine and sunny and no further rain is predicted for the weekend and the start of the new week.

For more information about protecting your home against storms, log on to www.ses.act.gov.au.