Driver dies after crashing into fallen tree as storms lash parts of NSW
A man has died after his car crashed into a fallen tree, brought down by savage storms that lashed Central West New South Wales overnight. NSW Police says the 81-year-old crashed on Lachlan Valley Way shortly before 3am. He was the sole occupant of the car, and died at the scene. Live Traffic history showed that Lachlan Valley Way was closed shortly after the crash. NSW State Emergency Service (SES) communications officer Matt Heap said the wild weather closed several roads in the region. “We
saw wind gusts of up to 98 kilometres an hour, resulting in widespread areas with trees down on roads,” he said. The NSW SES received a total of 108 calls for assistance across the state in the past 24 hours, 14 of which were in Cowra. At one stage the Olympic Highway, south-west of Cowra, was closed in both directions due to a fallen wire on the road. While it has now reopened, Mr Heap said it was worth checking the weather and roads before
travelling. “We do stress, if you’re travelling, particularly with the school holidays beginning, please check live traffic before you leave, allow extra time and steer clear of floodwaters,” he said. “More windy and showery conditions are expected across the region today. “Looking ahead into the weekend, the rain should ease with dry and stable weather returning into early next week.”
NSW storms, Lachlan Valley Way, fallen tree, NSW SES, Cowra, Olympic Highway, fallen wire, wind gusts, school holidays
98 km/h wind is insane. Poor guy.
So the road was closed after, but like… why was he even driving then? Just check live traffic like they say. Kinda feels like common sense.
I saw this on another page, but I swear it said it was a power line first? Like fallen wire on Olympic Highway, then tree on Lachlan Valley. Either way storms take everything down. 81 years old too, that’s brutal. Sad.
This is why they should keep those roads staffed during storms. Also “steer clear of floodwaters” like floodwaters is the main thing, but it’s the trees… and the wind gusts… and the fallen wire… so what exactly do people do, like stop the whole highway network? My uncle always says cars can handle it, but not when a tree is basically aiming at your windshield.