Sydneysiders' prayers for relief after days of intense heat were answered with flash flooding that caused chaos on the roads and left residents and travellers scrambling for help.
The sudden storm hit the city and surrounding suburbs on Tuesday leaving thousands of homes without power, more than a dozen people trapped in their cars in floodwaters, and others stuck due to closed roads.
Light rail lines were suspended, flights were delayed and murder trials were interrupted when the Supreme Court building in the CBD was evacuated as water streamed down internal stairs.
Almost half the average rainfall for February hit Sydney on Tuesday.
The city was drenched with 53mm of rain since 9am, with most of that in just one hour between 10 and 11am as the storm cell hit.
The inner west suburb of Marrickville was also with 53mm of rain while 19 people were evacuated from a block of flats initially thought liable to collapse, but later deemed structurally sound.
All 19 have returned home.
The nearby suburb of Canterbury copped 51mm of rain.
In the west, Penrith, Parramatta and Campbelltown also experienced the force of the storm, as did Wollongong and Port Kembla south of Sydney.
The SES responded to 160 calls for help, including 16 people trapped in their cars who had to be rescued from floodwaters around Leichhardt, Marrickville, Annandale, Waterloo and Alexandria.
Sydney's city streets were awash with pedestrians battling to walk through flooded crossings in ankle-deep water.
Light rail services were cancelled between Dulwich Hill and Central due to flooding, leaving commuters such as Andrea Plawutsky forced to alight in floodwater as rubbish bins floated down the street.
Ms Plawutsky, who had been travelling towards Central Station when her journey came to an abrupt halt at Chinatown, ended up running through the rain barefoot.
"The water was halfway up my shins when I got off," Ms Plawutsky told AAP.
There were delays at Sydney Airport for both arrivals and departures and a small number of flights were cancelled while others were diverted.
More than 5100 properties were without power across Sydney.
A blackout in Redfern and parts of Surry Hills affected more than 700 homes and businesses, while 1400 properties were without power in Lane Cove, Ausgrid said.
Power provider Endeavour Energy said 1000 properties lost power in Ambarvale, with a further 2000 cut off throughout Sydney in suburbs including Kemps Creek and Riverstone.
Motorists travelling across the Anzac Bridge had to grapple with just one westbound lane for hours before the others were reopened in the afternoon.
Sydneysiders are being advised to keep their brollies in their bags with light to moderate rain forecast for the rest of Tuesday, into Wednesday morning, with possible thunderstorms along the coast.
