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Warnings in place across NSW as town braces for second major flood in a month
By Emily Kaine, Josefine Ganko and Kayla Olaya
Swaths of NSW are bracing for possible flooding after days of heavy rain fell on already soaked catchments.
A “prepare to isolate” warning is currently in place for Gunnedah in north-central NSW, which is still recovering from major flooding at the start of this month.
A pedestrian braves the rain on Friday morning.Credit: Sam Mooy
With water storage along the Peel and Namoi Rivers already full and the catchment saturated, the Bureau of Meteorology is again warning of a major inundation for the town just west of Armidale on Saturday.
Meanwhile, minor flood warnings apply to the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers, including parts of Sydney’s outskirts like North Richmond, Wallacia, Windsor and Menangle Bridge. Across the state, warnings are also in place for the Hunter, and much of the Mid North Coast and Mid-West.
It comes after some parts of the state received more than 200mm of rain in a matter of days. Sydney was drenched on Thursday, receiving about 100mm in the 24 hours to 6pm on Thursday – more than the average rainfall for the entire month of August.
A man walks through floodwater in Gunnedah in 2022.Credit: Brook Mitchell
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, this month has been the wettest August in 27 years.
NSW SES said that as of Friday, it had completed 12 flood rescues and responded to 627 incidents across the state.
Amid the wet weather, two bodies were found near Wisemans Ferry on Thursday amid the search for a father and son who went missing after their car crashed into a river.
Police divers have been scouring the Macdonald River at St Albans on Sydney’s northern outskirts after the car carrying the man in his 50s and his two sons in their 20s veered into a tree and then into the waterway about 11.50pm on Wednesday.
One of the sons, aged 24-year-old, escaped the vehicle and was able to swim to the riverbank, but police spent Thursday searching for his father and brother.
About 11.20am, divers located the submerged vehicle near the crash site. A further search found the two bodies. They have yet to be formally identified.
While such heavy rainfall is atypical for winter in Sydney, the wet conditions have been driven by a weather system in the upper atmosphere that is moving across eastern parts of NSW and into South East Queensland, “giving us extra moisture in the air than we would usually see at this time of year”, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Helen Reid said.
“The low-pressure trough on the coastline is resulting in very widespread rainfall, and we are seeing a few rivers on the rise at the moment,” Reid said on Thursday.
The SES rescued a passenger and his dog trapped in floodwaters from this vehicle on Moreton Park Road in Douglas Park early on Thursday. Credit: Nine News
On Thursday, the SES conducted eight flood rescues, including a trapped vehicle on Moreton Park Road in Douglas Park in Sydney’s south-west after a driver had attempted to travel through floodwaters.
The driver, the only person in the car, and his dog were rescued. Neither sustained injuries.
NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz told Nine News on Thursday there had been 1400 calls for assistance since Monday, with volunteers attending more than 800 incidents mainly around the Sydney region. She urged people to download the Hazards Near Me app and follow SES advice closely.
“At Kurnell, they’ve had 60 homes that have had property damaged by water coming into them,” Platz said. “Port Macquarie … in the last 24 hours, they’ve had over 200mm of rain, and we currently have about 60 jobs on the go there with water coming into people’s homes.”
“If you come across a flooded roadway, please turn around. Find another route. Do not play in, walk or drive through any of the flooded waterways … there are many flooded areas.”
Sydney can expect to see out the winter with sunny, warm and dry weather, according to Senior Meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Jonathan How.
“We are expecting temperatures to get back up to sort of 23 degrees by Tuesday [and] Wednesday,” he said. “By this time tomorrow, we are looking at dry skies for pretty much the entire NSW coast … then we still need to contend with a few showers in Sydney and the Hunter on Saturday before finally going out on Sunday.”
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