EMERGENCY workers have praised the efforts have people in Hillvue, Kingswood and South Tamworth for banding together in the wake of intense storms which lashed the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Tamworth local government area was declared a disaster zone on Saturday while hundreds of homes across the North West were left without power for days.
SES deputy zone commander Heath Stimson said there were 230 calls for assistance following the storms; 155 in Tamworth alone.
READ MORE:
- Storm causes widespread damage in Tamworth and surrounds | Photos
- Tamworth region was torn apart by wild winds on Thursday evening as a brief but violent storm tore rooves of houses, fell trees, relocated sheds
- Essential Energy reports all premises in Walcha affected by Thursday's storm should be reconnected by the end of today
He said Hillvue, South Tamworth and Kootingal were among the hardest hit areas.
However, there was a silver lining amid the intense weather.
“It’s obvious from this event, Tamworth has a fairly high level of resilience,” Mr Stimson said.
“The community came together and started the clean-up.
“There were some good examples of that in Kingswood and Hillvue where people were going to check on their neighbours.”
Mr Stimson said there was 21 calls for help in Narrabri, Bellata and Edgeroi and there were 12 homes which had their roofs torn-off in the storms.
The SES had assistance in clean-up efforts from Fire and Rescue, Rural Fire Service, local police and council units throughout the region.
Meanwhile, Essential Energy crews worked through the weekend to return power to hundreds of homes in and around Narrabri and Tamworth.
There were 28 homes and businesses without power in Narrabri and surrounding areas, 31 in Walcha and six in Tamworth on Sunday morning.
Crews continue to work as quickly as safety allows and hope to restore power to all homes and businesses today except for a very small number of locations, such as pump sites, which are not currently being used by customers or where there are access issues due to boggy conditions.
A small number of customers in some locations in Narrabri, Tamworth, Walcha and surrounding areas may see power go off again through the day as further repairs are carried out including the replacement of temporary power poles.
Where possible, Essential Energy will notify these customers via text message.
Crews were brought in from across the state to assist.
Mr Stimson said the SES was expecting a quieter week ahead with no storm activity predicted and hot temperatures set to return on Boxing Day.
The mercury will rise to 31 on Christmas Eve in Tamworth, according to Elders Weather, while Christmas will bring a sunny day with a top 33 degrees.
Temperatures are tipped to climb to 38 degrees by Saturday.
Tamworth, along with several other council areas, received funding through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements for clean-up efforts.
Emergency services minister Troy Grant said a significant and coordinated multi-agency and community response was required.
"The NSW SES have deployed more than 120 storm damage teams supported by over 500 volunteers and teams from the NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, and Fire and Rescue NSW," Mr Grant said.