Emergency work to reconnect some 35,000 people to the grid continued overnight after successive storms felled trees and power lines across much of NSW.
The SES received more than 7500 calls across four days, including 4100 in the Sydney area. Â
Last night, our Port Stephens crew responded to a unique call in — NSW SES (@NSWSES) #Medowie - pet goats trapped under a fallen tree and trampoline! While they were uninjured, the team worked for over an 1hr to free them. A happy ending for all involved. 📢Cheers to the real G.O.A.T, our SES vols! pic.twitter.com/4qexkXKWKyJanuary 18, 2025
A natural disaster was declared for severely affected areas of Maitland, Port Stephens and Snowy Valleys - opening up financial support.
But communities from Mid-Coast to Central Coast as well as Cowra and Wagga were wondering why they were left out, the coalition said.
Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell said large swathes of his electorate had gone days without power.
"Our residents have quite literally been sitting in the dark with food going off in the fridge," the Nationals representative said.
"They need to be able to access essential supplies and start to repair what has been damaged."
Wagga Wagga MP Joe McGirr said he had been told the government was waiting to receive an assessment form.
"It should be extended to Wagga - no question about that," the independent MP told AAP.
"I'll be following it up next week to make sure it's done as soon as possible."
Thousands of people in NSW were still without power late on Saturday after a week of wild weather. (Rounak Amini/AAP PHOTOS)
The disaster assistance, funded by state and federal governments, can include money for emergency accommodation, support to help uninsured residents replace essential household items and funds to boost council clean-ups.
The SES had done an incredible job keeping the community safe, opposition emergency services spokesman Gurmesh Singh said.
"But as we start to count the cost of the destruction it doesn't make sense to deliver financial assistance to some people while leaving others in the lurch," he said.
The governments acknowledged the natural disaster declaration for the storm events could be expanded.
"The Australian and NSW governments are working hard to activate support as quickly as possible," federal Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister said.
A spokeswoman for NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said state agencies including the Reconstruction Authority were working with councils and emergency response organisations to assess storm damage across the state.
Discussions were ongoing with councils about collecting evidence for any further natural disaster declarations that may need to be made.
"It is disappointing that such a serious issue for communities across the state has been made political, particularly when first responders and those on the ground have been working tirelessly to have this support made available as soon as possible," she told AAP.
One man died when his car was hit by a tree on Wednesday while others were injured on Friday when a large tree hit pedestrians in Sydney CBD.
The wild weekend weather has shifted sand across the promenade and car park at Bondi Beach. (Rounak Amini/AAP PHOTOS)
Meanwhile, strong winds lifted sand off Bondi Beach, blanketing the promenade and car park on Saturday.
Further trouble is brewing off northwest Western Australia where an expected cyclone has halted iron ore exports across much of the Pilbara.
The Pilbara ports see off about 43 per cent of the global iron ore trade and 7.5 per cent of the global LNG trade.
As the system moves westwards, parallel to the north WA coast during the weekend, a storm tide is expected between De Grey and Exmouth during Sunday and Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
NSW SES CALLS SINCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT
(as of Saturday evening)
Statewide: 7592Metro: 4110North Eastern: 101North Western: 78Northern Zone: 2285South Eastern: 327Southern Zone: 330Western Zone: 341State HQ: 20
25°C