Thousands of homes and businesses in Sydney's north have been warned they could spend the weekend without power as emergency crews continue to respond to storm damage across the city.
About 16,000 Northern Beaches and North Shore homes are still without electricity following Tuesday's flash storm.
Ausgrid said it may take until Sunday for power to be restored and advised customers to consider relocating if possible.
The electricity company's spokesperson Jonathon Hall said the damage left by the severe storm on Tuesday "is similar to what you would expect to see after a cyclone".
"We have so many poles down, trees down. We have more than 1,800 separate dangerous hazards across the network which crews have been responding to," he said.
"We're also repairing some of our major transmission lines which were damaged and high-voltage and low-voltage power lines as well."
Trees were uprooted and power was cut to 52,000 homes in less than 10 minutes after an intense burst of wild weather swept through Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.
Among the worst affected suburbs are Mosman, Roseville, Forestville, Epping, Allambie Heights and Chatswood.
Hundreds of workers, including additional crews from Newcastle and the Central Coast, are helping in the cleanup.
People who rely on continuous electricity for life support or medical equipment are urged to activate their plans and seek assistance to move if they have not already.
