Storms lash Orange region causing wall of water to flood Cudal greyhound property

The State Emergency Service responded to 12 calls in Orange for fallen trees and water in houses after the storm dumped nearly 40 millimetres of water in an hour and created about 26,000 lightning strikes.

Breeder and trainer Amanda Ginn said the storm was "like a tsunami" as the water which she said was "100-150 metres wide and eight foot high" tore down fences at a family property.

She said she rushed to rescue nine greyhound pups from the water as their kennel area was destroyed.

"If we had not heard the roar, they would have all drowned," she said.

"They were floating, they were sinking, they were stuck under the Colorbond. We were just trying to swim to get to the pups."

She said all survived though some suffered cuts.

Miss Ginn said rubbish from other properties was strewn across the land.

She said it was the sixth flood at the property since Cabonne Shire Council installed a causeway on a road near the property about six years ago.

"We believe it is causing the flooding," she said.

However, Cabonne council spokesman Dale Jones said the causeway was not responsible.

"The property concerned has a natural watercourse running through it, which is on private land," he said.

"In extreme events, such as Tuesday night's storm when a lot of rain fell in a very short period, there is a large amount of run-off from private farmland that follows this watercourse, causing the water level to rise," Mr Jones said.

"The causeway on the road reserve has no impact on this flow of water or the direction of the flow. The causeway is constructed to enable water to flow over it and not to interrupt or alter the flow of the water."

SES Orange controller Robert Stevens said 13 crew members were involved in emergency work in the region which continued until 6.30am on Wednesday.

It included clearing fallen trees on Summer Street East and the Forbes and Cargo roads and repairing roofs where water had entered houses around Orange.

"They put in a solid effort, those guys," Mr Stevens said.

Damage was also significant at Moorbel, near Canowindra.

SES Canowindra unit commander Cameron McKenzie said the roof of a rural house was blown off in the storm.

Mr McKenzie said two large trees also fell and blocked the entrance to another property in the area.

He said a farm dam was also feared to be at risk of bursting but it eventually drained out.

The storm, just after 8pm, dumped 37.8 millimetres of rain at Orange Regional Airport.

The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 26,416 lightning strikes within 40 kilometres of Orange with 3405 lightning bolts hitting the ground.

LOCATION: BRIDGE STREET CUDAL

Weatherzone meteorologist Tom Hough said the lightning was significant.

"That's certainly a lot of strikes, it moved through pretty quickly," he said.

None of the lightning bolts ignited new fires across the region.

NSW Rural Fire Service Canobolas Zone membership services officer Nils Waite said crews assisted the SES around Canowindra with storm damage work.

Mr Waite said lightning was a major concern for firefighters during the drought and each bolt that hit the ground had the ability to quickly ignite a new blaze.

He said bushland areas might be smouldering following the overnight lightning strikes and could take a couple of days to heat and ignite.

Mr Waite urged the community to report any unattended fires to triple-0.

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