Storms knock out power to Australian state

South Australia's Premier Jay Weatherill said it wasn't clear what had caused the state-wide power outage, and warned it could take hours to get services up and running again.

"At this stage we're still gathering information about the cause, but it appears that there was a weather event which has damaged infrastructure in the Port Augusta region," Weatherill told reporters.

Police said they had been called to rescue a number of people trapped in elevators and urged residents to stay inside and avoid travel.

The blackout came as powerful storms bringing hail and lightning swept across the region, uprooting trees and ripping roofs off homes.

Most traffic lights were out, causing gridlock throughout the state, which is more than twice the size of Germany and home to some 1.7 million people. Ports were closed, while train and tram services were also suspended.

SA Power Networks, which runs the state's electricity network, said repairs were underway.

"There were more than 21,000 lightning strikes recorded over a 12-hour period from midday yesterday on the West Coast, and as a result it is likely some damage has occurred to our distribution network," it said.

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told Sky News "serious questions" needed to be answered as to "how this extreme weather event could take out the whole of the electricity supply across a major state such as South Australia."

The Bureau of Meteorology said the wild weather, with wind gusts topping 100 kilometers an hour (60 miles an hour), was likely to continue into Thursday.

nm/kms (AFP, AP, Reuters)