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Wild Tas rain cuts power, schools closed

Ethan JamesAAP
State Emergency Service volunteers in Tasmania have had a busy night after wild storms hit the state
Camera IconState Emergency Service volunteers in Tasmania have had a busy night after wild storms hit the state Credit: AAP

Wild storms have swept through southern Tasmania, cutting power to thousands of homes, closing schools and briefly taking a state emergency services operation centre offline.

A severe weather warning was in place on Friday morning when heavy rain and damaging winds hit the state's south and east, including Hobart.

More than 2800 properties lost power, with the majority returning to the grid by the afternoon.

Several radio stations were taken offline, while an SES operations centre in the Hobart CBD sustained electrical damage.

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"We sustained a lightning strike (at) our regional operation centre which took the centre out for a period of time," SES acting director Leon Smith told reporters.

The SES received more than 250 calls overnight and attended 128 jobs, mostly for water inundation.

"There were a lot people who slept through the night, and then woke to find (water) in their homes," Mr Smith said.

An 81-year-old man was killed on Thursday night after being hit by a car while crossing a road in Hobart's northern suburbs when it was raining.

About a dozen schools shut their doors on Friday, according to the education department.

Hobart's kunanyi/Mt Wellington received 124mm of rain, while South Hobart recorded 106mm and the city itself 85mm.

"It's very heavy rainfall for this part of the country. We've seen near a month's worth of rain all fall at once," Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Simon Louis said.

Winds reaching 109km/h were recorded at the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington, while gusts up to 87km/h occurred in Hobart.

Minor and moderate flood warnings have been put in place for the South Esk River, Macquarie River, River Derwent, Jordan River, Coal River and Huon River.

There were reports of flash flooding on Hobart streets and several southern roads were closed.

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