Residents in Sydney and along the New South Wales coast have been urged to prepare for the chance of flooding with torrential downpours expected to continue and spread over the coming days.
Between midnight and midday on Thursday, NSW State Emergency Service had already responded to 254 callouts for the mid-north coast where a severe weather warning was issued from Gosford stretching up to Yamba.
A spokesperson for the SES said they conducted at least one flood rescue after a car got stuck in an overflowing creek in the Newcastle suburb of Gateshead.
Flood watch alerts have also been issued for a large portion of coastal NSW, with heavy rain expected to spread to Sydney and the Illawarra region by the weekend.
Sydney’s northern beaches recorded heavy rainfall, with falls of up to 48mm recorded at Mona Vale golf course, 41mm in Allenby Park, and 38mm in Rose Bay as of 6pm Thursday. It caused flooded roads and hazardous driving conditions.
The rain was expected to intensify over the next two days, said senior forecaster Jordan Notara, with heavy rain on Friday afternoon and a forecast of between 60 to 100mm on Saturday.
Further north, flooding caused a road to crack and collapse at Port Stephens, where rainfall of up to 100mm has been recorded.
Earlier, the Bureau of Meteorology’s flood operations manager Justin Robinson said the Orara, Bellinger, Kalang, Nambucca, Hastings Manning and Gloucester rivers and their surrounding areas were among the most at risk of flooding.
“We’re very concerned about the potential flooding on the inland and coastal rivers is basically from the mid-north coast, and then coming down into Sydney,” he said.
“Unfortunately, as we come into the Sydney area we’re expecting the potential for flooding, especially as we move into the weekend.”
The Hawkesbury, Nepean and Georges rivers were at risk for minor flooding.
“We also expect there is a good potential for that localised flash flooding across the city metro area, and further south into the Illawarra coast,” Robinson said.
Heavy rains pelted the area between Gosford and Yamba on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, with Coffs Harbour receiving 100mm and Nelson Bay hit with more than 150mm, creating havoc for local businesses.
“This morning we noticed that there was a bit of a leak coming through one of the lights in the boss’s office,” said Penny Whatman, office manger at the Nelson Bay Golf Course.
“Then it got more rain coming through, and then the whole ceiling collapsed.”
Whatman said the majority of their administration building was now “saturated”.
“There’s no point getting buckets, the hole is too big … it’s just torrential – just goes from heavy to heavier,” she said. “It’s just one of those extraordinary weather events that we get here every now and again, so not much you can do about it.”
Dr Helen Kirkup, a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said the area was more susceptible because of the La Niña summer.
“The catchments are already pretty wet. It does mean it doesn’t take as much rainfall to flood anymore. When you start getting 100mm in three hours, it’s pretty intense.”
NSW SES chief superintendent Greg Swindells urged residents to prepare for potential flooding and those planning to visit these areas in the coming days to reevaluate.
“If it’s not required, put it off, and perhaps stay home and prepare your homes with any information that we give,” he said.
“Never drive, walk or ride through floodwaters … it doesn’t matter how experienced you are as a driver or how big your vehicle may be, we can’t guarantee the integrity of floodwaters on road surfaces.”
NSW SES Ulmarra Unit is prepping for the coming week.
The old Boy Scouts saying comes to mind “Be Prepared “
Well that’s what they did on Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/jlJYsdaLSh
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) March 17, 2021
Swindells said the SES was prepared for a challenging weekend.
“The northern zone command up there have all the volunteers on standby and ready, and we’ve moved resources that are required for what we believe we’ll need,” he said.
