Strong winds have struck the Blue Mountains in the past week. Gusts of over 140 kph have brought
down hundreds of large trees along with powerlines leaving towns like Blackheath without electrical
power. At our house we were in blackout for more than 48 hours while others in some streets were
down for almost twice as long. Candle scenes such as the one above quickly became the order of
the night. All of this is in the dead of winter with temperatures outside hovering around zero. As I
write, it is 2:00 am and the wind velocity is up again. We are all wondering if we'll be going
through new periods of blackout. We should know before the night is out.