Up to 30 homes were rendered uninhabitable in thunderstorms with tornado-speed winds in Sydney on Wednesday.

Record wind gusts of about 213km/h lashed homes in Kurnell, destroying power lines, and damaging schools and businesses.

Hundreds of homes were left without power in the town, located about one hour from Sydney, with it expected to be at least one more day before it was restored.

The NSW State Emergency Service Deputy Commissioner Greg Newton said many areas of Sydney remained a mess.

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“Some properties, 25 to 30, have been quite extensively damaged,” Mr Newton told the Seven Network.

“Roofs pulled off and other structural damage.

“That will make those properties uninhabitable.”

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison met with locals at a community meeting on Thursday morning, and praised them for their community spirit.

“It’s tough, this happening so close to Christmas,” Mr Morrison said.

“This would have been quite an horrific ordeal for those kids in Kurnell.”

Major power lines feeding Ausgrid’s substation and local streets were damaged, leaving 800 homes and businesses without power and briefly cutting off electricity to the local sewage plant.

Kurnell resident Kylee McNeilly was at the community meeting, and said government relief should be offered to those affected.

Ms McNeilly said she had lost the back of her house, with an entire wall ripped off and dumped at her neighbour’s backyard.

“We’re struggling, so the government’s got to come and help us,” she said.

Power has since been partially restored to the Kurnell South Zone Substation and high-voltage cables supplying the street energy network are slowly being repaired.

According to Ausgrid’s restoration plan for the area, made public at midday on Thursday, crews will afterwards repair lower-voltage street cables and the wires connecting each home to the network.

Ausgrid have estimated this process will be mostly complete by Friday evening, with less populated areas on either side of Silver Beach to be repaired some time later.

They have also urged Kurnell residents to stay clear of fallen powerlines.

“Emergency officers and installation inspectors are also going home to home to inspect damage at individual properties,” Ausgrid said in a statement.

“Unsafe installations are being disconnected and homeowners advised of steps they need to take to allow power to be reconnected.”