Four people have been knocked unconscious by a lightning strike at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens. The ambulance service says the group — a teenage male, a woman in her 20s, and a man and woman in their 30s— was standing under a tree when the lightning struck just before 1pm. Paramedics who rushed to the scene treated the two men and two women for burns and cardiac problems. They said they didn't know if the group were directly hit or just the tree.
The teenager and the woman in her 20s were taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, while the other two were taken to St Vincent's in Darlinghurst. Approximately 19,500 homes have lost power in Northern Sydney and the Hunter region in the wake of the storm. Suburbs affected include Balgowlah, Manly, Turramurra, Hornsby, and Berowra in Sydney, and Lake Macquari