NSW weather: rain subsides but heavy falls expected midweek
Rain has eased over much of New South Wales but dozens of rivers are still flooding and evacuation orders are in place as authorities forecast another rain system to arrive midweek.
People across the state were forced to flee their homes over the weekend amid rising flood waters and thousands of others are poised to leave if ordered as dams spill and river peaks move downstream.
There are more than 100 flood warnings in place and 16 emergency warnings across NSW, while the State Emergency Service received more than 1,000 calls for help over the weekend and responded to 44 flood rescues.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said the areas of most concern were in the state’s west and the Hawkesbury-Nepean area and urged everyone to heed warnings.
“The dams are full, the rivers are full, there is water right across the state,” he told reporters.
“Please do not drive through flood waters. We see time and time again in these situations, people put their lives at risk, their family lives at risk. Please do not do that.”
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The Bureau of Meteorology said no heavy fall was expected in the next couple of days but areas east of the Great Dividing Range would get patches of rain.
However, the reprieve would be short-lived as another system was expected to bring rain from Wednesday to Friday.
The SES commissioner, Carlene York, warned people not to become complacent because the rain had stopped.
“We’re seeing flash-flooding and serious riverine flooding rising,” she told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.
“Just because it’s not raining, it doesn’t mean those rivers aren’t rising – water is still flowing into our catchment areas.”
The SES issued new evacuation orders overnight for low-lying areas along the Hawkesbury River and an evacuation centre has been established at North Richmond while flooding continues further west and south.
Moderate to heavy rainfall since Saturday caused significant river level rises across the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, triggering moderate flooding at North Richmond and Windsor and minor flooding at Penrith and Sackville.
Major flooding was occurring along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, with moderate flooding expected at Wagga Wagga as the water travelled downstream.
BoM meteorologist Dean Narramore said relief from the rain on Monday did not signal the end of flooding.
“We’re still very much watching the rivers and the outlook because there’s more rain on the way,” he told ABC TV.
Downstream along the Macquarie River, moderate flooding was occurring at Dubbo and Narromine, with major flooding at Warren.
The Macquarie River at Warren Town was forecast to reach around 9.6m late on Monday and into Tuesday, bringing major flooding.
The agriculture minister and Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said there were many road closures in the district as vast swathes of water surged across the landscape.
“The deluge of rain that happened turned what are normally just little creeks of less than a metre into rampaging rivers of 30 and 40m wide through paddocks,” he told 2GB.
“There’s a lot of crops that will be lost.
“We’re just bracing for another weather event ... from Wednesday to Friday.”
Saunders urged landholders to report any flood damage to their properties, including land, infrastructure and animals.
“Since the heavy rain began last week, we have already assisted three farmers in western NSW with emergency fodder drops because their livestock was stranded,” he said in a statement.
“We expect this number to increase in the coming days.”