Wild storms smash NSW, leaving Carinda without pub, pizza shop ...

A tiny town where David Bowie once filmed a music video has lost three commercial buildings, including a pub, during wild storms that smashed much of NSW. 

The State Emergency Service (SES) logged more than 270 incidents across NSW yesterday, with 49 in the state's west.

One of the worst-affected areas was Carinda, a small town near Walgett with fewer than 100 residents, where winds ripped the roofs off the local pub, pizza shop and general store.

Carinda man Chris Isaac told ABC Western Plains Breakfast the community had been devastated by the storm's impact.

"It's a mess, looks like a bomb has gone off," he said.

"House next door lost its roof, Bill over the back, he's lost his house pretty much, he's not looking real good.

"Water tank from the other side of town rolled up against my back fence, bits of tin just everywhere."

On Monday afternoon, the SES confirmed that at least 12 properties in Carinda are severely damaged and uninhabitable.

In a statement, NSW SES incident controller Chief Superintendent Brigid Rice said preparations were being made to resupply the community with drinking water.

Andrew Edmunds from the SES said the ferocity of the wind caught locals by surprise.

"That would have been well in excess of 100 to 150 kilometres per hour," he said.

"So very strong winds that have led to some significant damage.

"We'll be working with the local council and the residents today in that area to work through the clean-up efforts."

Carinda hosts an annual Let's Dance festival, and rock star David Bowie filmed parts of the video clip for his hit 1983 song there.

A wild storm ripped the roofs off several buildings at Carinda, in north-western NSW. (Supplied: SES)

Walgett Shire mayor Jasen Ramien described the event as a "freak storm".

He said the wild winds had made a "fair mess" of the town's main street and the lightning that followed sparked numerous fires across the area.

The SES responded to more than 80 calls for help across the Sydney region, and there were widespread reports of power outages across the western and southern inland regions of the state. 

More than 13,000 people were left without power for around five hours in Wagga Wagga in the Riverina, with several other surrounding areas blacked out for longer.

There was chaos on Wagga's roads when traffic lights at several major intersections failed for the duration of the outage, including along the Stuart Hughway which runs through the city's centre.

Motorists were forced to direct themselves among the many large trucks that also navigated the roads, and while it was mostly a cautious crawl, there were times where drivers approached too quickly causing others to sound their horns.

Riverina Police District Acting Inspector Adam White said police were pleased to see motorists slowing down and obeying "failsafe" signage at the intersections which indicate what to do if the lights are out.

"If we deem it necessary for us to manually take control of an intersection, we will do that, but the secondary signs were working," he said.

The SES is advising residents to keep clear of damaged buildings, fallen trees and power lines.

More than 17,000 people lost power in southern, central and northern NSW during the wild weather.

Essential Energy said in a statement while most people have had their power returned, portable generators are also being brought in to provide limited power to communities where the repairs are expected to take longer.

Helicopters have also been brought into some areas to assist with assessing damage to the network before some of the more major repairs can be completed. 

This huge bolt of lightning struck the Lake Albert area near Wagga Wagga. (Supplied: Lisa Dunn)

More severe thunderstorms are forecast for north-eastern NSW today.

The Bureau of Meteorology is warning that a destructive cold front is still making its way north across eastern Australia.

Senior meteorologist Kristy Johnson said the same weather system that sparked bushfires in the southern states also battered much of southern and western NSW.

She said while the storms had been around for a week, yesterday's front was very damaging.

"We had a strong cold front that moved through the southern part of the country and that was what brought the extreme to at times catastrophic fire danger through SA and Victoria," Ms Johnson said.

"That front then moved up the coast of NSW."