A woman has died as Sydney and other parts of NSW are being smashed by winds of up to 110km/h, which have caused power outages and have sparked hundreds of calls for help.
The strong winds mean 21,000 homes and businesses in the Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven, Illawarra, and Blue Mountains are without power Endeavour Energy said.
Asgrid said emergency crews responded to about 300 hazards and 8700 customers lost power at the peak.
Around 3300 remain without electricity.
More than 120,000 people across Victoria and Tasmania were without power on Monday afternoon, while the Derwent River near Hobart was expected to rise to a record level in the evening.
There were more than 1,000 reports of fallen trees and more than 350 homes were damaged by winds, according to the SES chief operations officer, Tim Wiebusch.
