Hundreds of calls for assistance have been made and several flood rescues carried out as heavy rain lashes parts of Australia’s east coast.
Dozens of flood warnings are in place across New South Wales, with the state’s Central West, Hunter and Illawarra regions among the worst affected areas.
Two low pressure troughs moved through the state this week, the Bureau of Meteorology said, bringing rain of up to 100mm in some locations.
More rain is expected overnight and in the coming days as a third low pressure system sweeps across the state, with already saturated dams and rivers raising the risk of flash flooding.
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The NSW State Emergency Service on Saturday afternoon issued a plea to residents amid the “very dangerous conditions”.
“Significant rain has been falling, is falling, and is expected to fall over the next few days, with perhaps another front towards the middle to late next week,” NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said.
“So it is important to remember the ground is saturated, the rivers are full and the dams are full, often over 100 per cent.
“It’s very dangerous conditions out there and we’d ask the public to be aware of the warnings and the information that’s going out, to make sure that they make safe decisions.”
Commissioner York said the NSW SES received more than 330 calls for assistance over the last 24 hours, and performed six flood rescues in the same period.
She called on residents in risk areas to make sure they are prepared for the weather conditions, including having an emergency kit and sandbags ready.
“So far the community have been fantastic in coming into SES sites and council sites to get their sandbags and be prepared,” Commissioner York said.
“We are prepared as an organisation with our partner agencies and I call upon the community to help us in that preparation and make sure that you listen to our warnings and listen to our messages as these rains continue.
“It’s also important to remember that the rains will pass and the sun will come out but the rivers may still be rising. The risk doesn’t go away just because the weather is fine.”
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said more than 500 SES personnel are out in the field “and they are doing a magnificent job of keeping communities up-to-date and helping out where necessary”.
She added four ADF helicopters will be active from Saturday night – one at each at Holsworthy and Williamtown and two in Parkes – in addition to 10 state helicopters prepositioned around NSW.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said there were 63 flood warnings in place across the state.
“They are generally right across the state, particularly in those areas of western NSW, the Central West, Hunter, the Hawkesbury-Nepean and the South Coast to the Illawarra,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We are expecting overnight heavy rainfall on the east coast of Sydney… so there is significant risk of flash flooding right across our state.
“We currently have a situation where our dams are full, our rivers are full, so with heavy rain expected, we ask everybody to continue to be cautious.
“If those flood warnings are in place, please continue to follow instructions, be prepared and be ready if an evacuation is needed.”
Source: Sky News
