Local councils and SES teams clean up as strong wind continues

"We saw those really big winds rip through the New England region from about four o'clock on Monday afternoon," said Mitch Parker, SES deputy zone commander for the western region.

"The area of concern stretched from Quirindi and the Liverpool Plains area up to Tenterfield, but the area hardest hit was from Walcha through to Armidale."

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Mr Parker said high winds combined with the high soil moisture content following the consistent wet weather during the last year resulted in arboreal carnage.

By midday on Tuesday, more than 123 calls for assistance had been logged with SES units across New England.

Two cries for help were called into the Tingha SES and two came into Deepwater, while 10 each were called in at SES units in Tenterfield and Glen Innes.

The Liverpool Plains and Tamworth SES units received 25 calls for help, but more than half of all calls received across New England came into the staff at Armidale/Guyra/Uralla and Walcha units who logged a combined 85 calls for assistance - with the Armidale unit taking 60 of them.

"We've been very busy with wind speeds in the area above 90 kilometres an hour," said Armidale deputy unit commander Jock Campbell.

"With more winds and wet conditions forecast for the next two days, it is going to continue to keep us busy for a little bit."

Incredibly no one has been reported as injured Mr Campbell said, but more than half the calls received have been regarding property damage and local councils across the region have been kept busy clearing trees from roads.

There have also been many calls from those still living under tarps since a tornado ripped through the town in October 2021.

"Most of the jobs involve trees down on houses, trees down on fences or blocking driveways," he said.

"We are partnering with council and the Rural Fire Service to clear trees from across roads and return access to the public."

A spokesperson for Essential Energy said the company responded quickly when the severe weather worked its way across the area, leaving thousands without power.

The rain and strong winds on Monday evening brought down trees, snapped a power pole and caused powerlines to fall, resulting in unplanned power outages for customers from around 5.30pm.

At the height of the storm, more than 20,000 customers were without power across Essential Energy's network footprint.

"Crews worked throughout the night to assess damage to the electricity network, ensure safety and isolate damaged sections of the network," they said.

"By early Tuesday morning, the number of customers affected by unplanned power outages across Essential Energy's distribution area had been reduced to around 11,700."

As of 10am on Tuesday, the number of customers without power supply across the wider New England North West and Northern Tablelands stood at around 5,200 including 2,200 in Armidale, 981 in Glen Innes, 545 in Tamworth, 524 in Tenterfield, 349 in Walcha, 316 in Quirindi and 374 in Guyra.

"Crews are patrolling the electricity network across affected areas and a helicopter will also be brought in to assist once conditions allow for it to get in the air," they said.

"Additional resources are being brought in to assist repair and restoration efforts in Armidale, Glen Innes, Quirindi, Tenterfield and Walcha however we do expect that some customers will remain without power overnight tonight as conditions are making some areas inaccessible."

Essential Energy said it will attempt to contact those customers to advise them, once the status of their restoration is known.

"We thank the communities for their patience and understanding as crews work to restore power to customers as quickly and safely as possible," the spokesperson said.

Armidale Regional Council crews were out most of Monday night and are continuing to clear trees blocking roads.

Waterfall Way, Boorolong Road and Kempsey Road are high impact areas and residents are advised to drive with extreme caution.

The off-leash dog area on Taylor Street in Armidale is closed until further notice due to trees being down and surrounding fences broken.

A strong cold front and associated low-pressure system from Sunday has brought a rapid transition into a wintry weather pattern across New England just in time for 1 June.

With below-average temperatures, showers, low-level snow and brisk winds, some communities will experience the coldest temperatures of the year so far.

The forecast for severe weather, including rain and gale-force wind warnings, east of the Great Dividing Range remains through to Thursday.

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