About 40,000 residents in eastern New South Wales remain under evacuation orders on Wednesday morning as a dangerous weather system is predicted to stir damaging winds before drifting off into the Tasman Sea.
The State Emergency Service has 60 evacuation orders in place and a further 27 areas under warnings. The last of the orders was issued late on Tuesday as heavy rain from an east coast low pelted Sydney and regions further south to Shoalhaven and beyond.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds for a coastal strip stretching from north of Newcastle to Bega, near the Victorian border.
Today's challenge: Damaging winds, as the east coast low heads off into the Tasman Sea: @bom_nsw #nswfloods https://t.co/E0A4G0fr0O pic.twitter.com/aSfCz7qo7G
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 8, 2022
The strongest winds were recorded before 10pm on Tuesday, including an 111km/h gust at Molineux Point on Sydney’s east and a 100km/h gust at Kurnell in the city’s south.
The bureau said the low was situated well off the Illawarra coast and would continue to move south to south-east, away from the NSW coast during Wednesday.
“Damaging wind gusts associated with this low are occurring across the central and southern coast and hinterland, with conditions gradually easing during today,” it said, adding that gusts could exceed 90km/h.
Hazardous surf is also likely on the Hunter coast, the Sydney coast and down to the Eden coast near the Victorian border.
As the rain starts to ease, and the wind is here, now is the time to prepare your home. 💨
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) March 8, 2022
Travel Info:@LiveTrafficNSW
Warnings: @BOM_NSW
NSW SES: https://t.co/BCnxAe6tsR pic.twitter.com/GOj9rZqm0X
In its 56th flood warning for the Hawkesbury-Nepean River on Sydney’s north and western edge, the bureau said rivers were still at major flood levels.
At Windsor, flood levels could approach the 1978 heights by the middle of Wednesday, making it the biggest flood at that site in 44 years.
Flood levels on the Hawkesbury-Nepean remain well above major flooding levels at North Richmond and Windsor. @BOM_NSW #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/Nu1okoYwzz
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 8, 2022
The river was higher than the March 2021 event at places including North Richmond, Wisemans Ferry, Sackville and Lower Portland.
Sydney’s Warragamba Dam has been spilling into the Hawkesbury-River floodplain for a week. Inflows into Lake Burragorang behind the dam peaked at a daily rate of 340 gigalitres early on Tuesday after heavy rains over the catchment.
Warragamba Dam's spill is "steady", after peaking Tuesday morning at a rate of about 400 gigalitres a day. Inflows peaked at about 340GL/day. @BOM_NSW #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/3HDHaQega7
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 8, 2022
The spill rate peaked at about 400GL a day on Tuesday morning, and levels remain steady on Wednesday morning.
The SES conducted 91 flood rescues in the past 24 hours and attended to almost 2,600 calls for assistance, according to a spokesperson, Tina Bergin.
The service briefly issued an evacuation order for residents near Manly Dam on Sydney’s northern beaches on Tuesday after torrential rain. It was then downgraded to a warning.
The SES went straight to “code red” for Manly Dam because “it was happening so rapidly”, said another SES spokesperson, Adam Jones.
“There was a bit of overland flooding but the dam itself didn’t actually cause any major issues that we are aware of,” Jones said.
