A wild storm recently swept across New South Wales, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power, causing chaos for commuters, and even hospitalising a group of four who were struck by lightning.

Among the businesses affected were Coles and Woolworths stores in Sydney's Northern Beaches.

The storm, which hit on Monday, February 19, was so intense that it knocked out power in several regions.

In the Northern Beaches, shoppers at Coles and Woolworths were left navigating dark aisles, with bags covering the refrigerated sections to conserve the cold.

Coles and Woolworths shoppers in the Northern Beaches were left in the dark after a storm swept across New South Wales. Image source: Instagram/@manlyobserver.

Power was restored to the area at 2:30 pm.

However, other suburbs, including parts of Turramurra, Hornsby, and Ettalong on the Central Coast, were left in darkness for an estimated 4-8 hours.

Severe weather conditions can have a significant impact on retail operations, as demonstrated by the recent storm in NSW and in Victoria.

Power outages can disrupt the normal functioning of stores, affecting everything from lighting to refrigeration.

This can lead to potential food spoilage and loss of sales, as well as creating an inconvenient and potentially unsafe shopping environment for customers.

It is understood that all Coles and Woolworths stores in the area are now trading as normal.

The storm didn't just affect retail stores.

It also caused significant disruption to transport, with train lines—including the T1 North Shore Line—shut down due to storm damage.

This left many commuters stranded and unable to get home.

'Trains not running between North Sydney and Gordon due to significant storm damage,' Transport NSW said.

Furthermore, four people were hospitalised after being struck by lightning at around 12:45 pm, while sheltering under a tree in Sydney's Botanic Gardens.

The group, with ages ranging from teens to 30s, sustained burn injuries.

They are now reportedly in a stable condition in the hospital.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) had issued a severe thunderstorm alert for several areas, including parts of Mid North Coast, Hunter, North West Slopes and Plains, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands and Central West Slopes and Plains Forecast Districts, earlier on Monday.

While conditions have since eased, they warned that heavy rainfall from the storms could still lead to flash flooding in warning areas 'over the next several hours'.

According to Weatherzone’s Total Lightning Network, approximately 210,000 lightning strikes were detected within a 200km radius of Newcastle between 5 am and 11 am AEDT.

Key Takeaways

• Intense storms caused power outages in parts of NSW, affecting Coles and Woolworths stores and leaving thousands without electricity.
• Weather conditions have disrupted transport, with train lines shut down and commuters stranded due to storm damage.
• Four individuals were hospitalised with burn injuries after being struck by lightning while sheltering under a tree in Sydney's Botanic Gardens.
• The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm alerts, and Weatherzone detected a high number of lightning strikes near Newcastle, highlighting the storm's severity.

Have you ever been caught in a severe storm? Share your experiences and tips for weather preparedness in the comments below.

 

[Veggiepatch]

A haven for shoplifters....

 

[LeahI]

Idiots. Get customers out and close the store. If someone hurt themselves in the darkness they'd sue and win.

 

[AlanQ]

Idiots. Get customers out and close the store. If someone hurt themselves in the darkness they'd sue and win.

exactly what they would do with the aid of the backup battery emergency lighting.

 

[MIZMAC]

What fools try to shop in the dark. Registers would not be working.

 

[Veggiepatch]

What fools try to shop in the dark. Registers would not be working.

Registers worked in 1973 when I worked at Woolworths in Sydney. Grocery items were stamped with the price in purple so no scanning needed and the registers had a facility for a handle to be attached and it would wind around and add up the total like old school calculators before digital displays.

 

[LeahI]

Registers worked in 1973 when I worked at Woolworths in Sydney. Grocery items were stamped with the price in purple so no scanning needed and the registers had a facility for a handle to be attached and it would wind around and add up the total like old school calculators before digital displays.

You realise that was 50 years ago.
I hardly even understand what that would be like.