Cyclonic winds and torrential downpours wreaked havoc across Lake Macquarie on Tuesday, with the savage storm leaving no suburb unaffected.
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Some residents had their lives turned upside down, as the storm spread destruction across the city.
Homes, vehicles and vessels were damaged or wrecked, leaving some people distraught and desperate.
Parts of the lake shore appeared apocalyptic, as angry, frothy waters reached beyond their normal limits and a menacing mist loitered.
The breadth and power of the storm was breathtaking, with carnage in almost every suburb.
Residents tried to comprehend the devastation, while bracing for more to come.
By late afternoon, floodwaters had pooled in some Swansea streets.
The Wills Street sign was surrounded by water and an orange Holden Commdore ute sat defiant in a pool of water on Lakeside Drive.
Water swirled around Swansea fish co-op, as the lake rolled forwards.
Other low-lying areas like Marks Point, Cardiff and Dora Creek were bracing for flooding, as the rain refused to let up.
A big, twisted trampoline was wedged against a tree at Blacksmiths next to the Pacific Highway, a marker of the storm's fury.
Bizarrely, fishermen fished in Swansea Channel under lightning.
Horizontal rain, powered by punishing hurricane-style wind, sheeted through parts of west Lake Macquarie through the day.
Bolton Point resident Tammy Watts was exasperated, as she dealt with a big tree that had fallen into her bedroom.
Water was leaking into her house, ruining her possessions.
She was cut off from the world, with no power and no phone service.
"I'm freaking out," Ms Watts said.
"I can't believe it."
When the tree struck her house, she hit her head and had a seizure.
"I'm an epileptic," she said.
At Arcadia Vale, a tree destroyed a Holden Commodore.
Owner David Mooy said his car had been "flattened".
Mr Mooy managed to keep his sense of humour, partly out of relief that no one was injured in the incident.
"It'll buff out," he said.
"I just need a bit of duct tape."
If he didn't laugh, he'd probably cry.
His car was not insured and he couldn't afford another one.
The suburbs of Eleebana and Valentine were among those with trees down, while the Belmont and Warners Bay shores looked ominous.
At Fennell Bay, an isolated houseboat on the shore looked vulnerable, as water surrounded it.
Wild wind whipped the grey and brown lake into a frenzy.
Waves were abnormally high and foreshore areas flooded.
Boats rocked wildly, while some broke their moorings.
Motorists had to slalom through fallen trees on the road into Pelican.
Pelican Marina was hit hard, with damage to vessels and infrastructure.
Saturated boaties worked frantically to secure their windswept boats.
Dennis Skewses said the marina's southern wharf was destroyed in the morning, taking a houseboat with it.
The houseboat sunk in the lake near Little Pelican, he said.
Mr Skewses, who lives on a houseboat at the marina, said the wharf that held his home was deteriorating.
"Our livelihoods are disintegrating in front of us," he said.
He was staying on his boat for the night to protect it.
If the wharf was destroyed, he planned to motor the boat into the lake to drop anchor.