The ferocious weather which has lashed much of New South Wales has struck with deadly force. A 76-year-old man has been killed by a falling tree on the central coast. Heavy rain hit parts of the state, while gale force winds and extreme heat also made for a catastrophic fire risk.
00:00Across New South Wales, it's been a case of four seasons in one day.
00:07With catastrophic fire conditions in some areas and dangerous storms in others.
00:12Falling trees caused extensive damage across the state, killing a 76-year-old man on the central coast.
00:18This tree almost landed on a house in Dubbo.
00:22It was very fortunate that it has missed everything structural.
00:27Wind speeds in the region reached more than 100 kilometres an hour.
00:31Severe winds also caused major damage in the Hunter, while tens of thousands suffered blackouts statewide.
00:38As a result of these storms, we have responded to over a thousand incidents.
00:43There's danger too from dry and dusty conditions, with the state's first catastrophic fire rating in more than two years stretching over 300 kilometres.
00:53This fire in Corowa, near the Victorian border, reached emergency level.
00:58The wind is the thing that's going to push fires along.
01:01So we've got the fuel loads, it's all cured, it's dry.
01:0525 public schools across the Central West and Riverina were closed today because of the weather,
01:10presenting a logistical challenge for many, especially those on the land.
01:15It's like a bit of chaos, like all the wind and like, yeah, it's just like really annoying.
01:21Marool farmer Evan Lord spent this morning in the header with two children in tow.
01:25By early afternoon, he'd called it quits.
01:28Just one of many acting on harvest safety alerts.
01:31Just these gusty, gusty conditions have just come out of nowhere, raised dust.
01:35Yeah, it's just not conducive to doing anything safely really.
01:39The dust won't settle on this fire season for some time to come.
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