Residents in parts of Sydney’s south were ordered to evacuate their homes on Thursday with severe storms across the eastern part of New South Wales causing major flooding.
In Camden, numerous rescues were carried out on Thursday afternoon as the Nepean River burst its banks, with at least five people retrieved by State Emergency Service boats, footage aired on the Nine Network showed.
One group was ferried over fast-running waters after becoming stranded trying to herd their livestock to safety.
The Nepean River was forecast to exceed the levels it hit in April 1988, which was higher than both the 2020 and 2021 floods, and caused widespread devastating flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology has said.
The river has reached 16.8 metres at Menangle Bridge, similar to the 1988 flood levels, when it peaked at 16.75 metres. However, the BoM warned it was expected to rise to about 17 metres overnight.
State Emergency Services in NSW ordered residents in low-lying parts of Woronora and Bonnet Bay, in Sydney’s south, to evacuate the area by 11.30am on Thursday, in anticipation of worsening rain and flash flooding.
Residents in Chipping Norton, near Liverpool, were also ordered to evacuate some parts of the suburb by 3pm.
Camden in Sydney’s south-west was also the subject of an evacuation order on Thursday afternoon, with residents in some parts of the suburb told to leave by 6pm after the SES escalated a warning it issued earlier in the day.
Separately, residents in Picton, on the outskirts of Sydney’s south-west, were warned to prepare for an evacuation order to be issued, as a result of rising waters in the nearby Stonequarry Creek.
Sydney has now surpassed its average annual rainfall in just over three months of 2022. The city’s Observatory Hill weather station had recorded 1,226.8mm for the year by Thursday morning, compared with the average annual rainfall figure of 1,213.4mm.
Senior hydrologist Ailsa Schofield said flooding was also occurring at Wallacia on the Nepean, and North Richmond on the Hawkesbury, with flood levels expected to exceed recent river heights seen there in March.
“There is also the significant risk of continued flash flooding in the Greater Sydney, Upper Hunter, Illawarra and South Coast areas from today and into the weekend,” Scofield said.
“So I’m really urging residents to stay up to date with the local weather and warning information and stay safe.”
The SES warned Sydney residents to stay off the roads, with fallen trees and minor flooding obstructing roads in areas of the northern beaches. A man who was swept away by flood water in the suburb of Epping was rescued by the SES on Thursday morning.
The SES has responded to almost 700 requests for assistance and had carried out 25 rescues by lunchtime Thursday, the majority for people caught out by flash flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning just before 5am, predicting rainfall of between 60mm and 100mm would fall over a wide stretch of the already sodden state, including Sydney, the Illawarra, the south coast, the central and southern tablelands, and parts of the Hunter.
On the coast, rainfall could reach up to 140mm, the BoM said.
Flood warnings were also issued for Bega, Batemans Bay, Nowra, Goulburn, Wollongong, Sydney, Katoomba and Gosford.
See today's rainfall outlook. #SevereWeatherWarning is current for parts of #NSW including #Sydney, #CentralCoast, #Illawarra, #Hunter and #SouthCoast. Monitor warnings as heavy rainfall and persistent showers increases chance of flash flooding.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) April 6, 2022
Warnings: https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/XtyBIBH1Gz
Parts of southern Sydney recorded heavy rainfall overnight. The Cronulla South bowls club recorded 107mm in the three hours to 1.10am, Little Bay recorded 107mm in the six hours to 2.30am, Lucas Heights 57mm in two hours to 2.40pm, and Darkes Forrest 67mm in the two hours to 4.50pm.
Images on social media showed motorists in Dee Why, on the northern beaches, driving through roads covered with water on Thursday morning.
Dee Why this morning #nswrain pic.twitter.com/zIR6oOqETn
— Dale Drinkwater (@DaleDrinkwater) April 6, 2022
The state has been hit by repeated flooding in recent months, with the northern rivers area devastated by two deluges within weeks and Sydney drenched in its wettest March on record.
There were 12 flood warnings in place across the state on Thursday, mostly in catchments that are already saturated from more than a month of heavy rainfall.
Lismore and surrounding towns have endured two one-in-100 year floods in a month. The severe floods have also killed hundreds of thousands of fish in the Richmond River.
A final flood warning was issued for the Clarence River at Grafton in the northern rivers region, which peaked on Tuesday and was falling on Thursday morning.
The SES warned people in areas with flood warnings in place to prepare to leave when advised to do so.
“Ensure you take pets and valuables with you,” the SES said.
The bad weather has been driven by a strong upper trough over the centre of NSW, working to deepen another trough sitting off the coast.
The systems were expected to weaken on Friday morning.
