NSW hit by heavy rain
Flood warnings for thousands of residents
NSW was being pummelled by heavy rain yesterday, with some residents in the Australian state urged to leave their homes before it’s too late. Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warned that NSW faced a “life-threatening emergency” as floods wreaked havoc.
The warning came after Warragamba Dam spilled at about 2am yesterday, “well ahead of predictions”. Cooke said the disaster had been caused by an east coast low weather system developing off the coast, which is tipped to remain for several days.
“This means even more torrential rain, it means strong damaging winds, and it means coastal erosion in Sydney, the Central Coast, the south coast and the Illawarra,” she warned.
“This is a life-threatening emergency situation. If you know your local community is prone to flooding, then please be prepared to evacuate and at short notice.”
Forecasters have said the worst of the weather is yet to come with an east coast low set to near the coast late last night and drag into today.
Thousands of residents in areas of Sydney’s southwest were ordered to leave their homes, and the SES received more than 1400 calls for help overnight Saturday following scores of rescues.
“You may be trapped without power, water and other essential services and it may be too dangerous to rescue you,” the organisation warned.
Rainfall totals around Sydney and the Illawarra region have been immense. At 5am yesterday, Holsworthy, in Sydney’s south west, had recorded more than 200mm of rain since 9am Saturday.
In one incident, a young woman was rescued after floodwaters left her clinging to a tree for safety for more than an hour in Holsworthy. Footage showed a SES officer braving floodwaters to swim out to the woman, before she was escorted back to shore by boat.