Thousands of Australians without power as heavy rain, damaging winds lash New South Wales

A storm moves over the Blue Mountains towards Penrith amid wild New South Wales weather. - Photo courtesy of Andrew Edgar

SYDNEY: Tens of thousands of people in Australia's New South Wales state were without power on Saturday (Jan 18) after a low pressure system brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.

Around 28,000 people were without power in Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, and 15,000 had no power in nearby Newcastle city and Hunter region, power company Ausgrid said on its website on Saturday morning.