Sydney wild weather: Fatal choice led to three deaths in rising floodwaters
WITH rising floodwater surrounding him, Robert Pollard had no choice but to turn around. He was one of three men who drowned as police hold grave fears for a fourth man missing off Bondi Beach
NSW
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THERE is little chance a man who jumped into wild surf at Bondi Beach yesterday will be found alive.
A search for the man aged in his 20s, who witnesses said was swimming off south Bondi before he was overwhelmed at 2.30pm yesterday, resumed this morning.
“He just jumped in when the waves were going out and when the waves came in again he went under and couldn’t keep up. Then he just disappeared,” a witness said.
Police said no one had come forward to report the man missing.
“He has literally gone for a swim as silly as that sounds,” a police source said.
Meanwhile, the Southern Highlands community is grieving the death of Robbie Pollard who was one of three men who drowned in raging floodwaters on Sunday.
Kelly Pollard posted: “Omg so unfair to an amazing man. U made us all laugh Robbie Pollard. RIP miss u”.
Entertainer Johnny Spitz said Mr Pollard always requested the same songs when he performed at Mittagong RSL.
“Everyone in the Highlands that knows Robert well will know how scared and alone he must have felt in his final seconds,” he posted on Facebook.
“For someone who lived and loved life, this is shattering. An example to others to just get on the dance floor and live your life no matter what disability or challenges you have.
“We spoke for a while at the end of my gig a few weeks ago. Robert was simply inspiring.”
With torrential rain lashing around him, Mr Pollard had no choice but to try to turn his car around.
The 65-year-old Bowral resident — described by close friends as a larrikin who loved to be social — must have known the odds were against him.
Earlier he had been seen driving with his hazard lights on, desperately searching for help. As he attempted a risky U-turn his Mazda sedan flipped and was then swept away in a raging torrent in the Southern Highlands.
The current dragged his car for at least 1km until it became trapped in a fast-running creek that had swollen to more than 20m wide.
“The larrikin was always on the lookout for a lovely lady he could chat up,” a close friend said.
Mr Pollard was a regular at the Mittagong RSL Club, where he would walk around talking to patrons with a glass of water in hand.
He was found dead in his car in Mittagong Creek about 8.30 yesterday morning. His car was found against trees behind Bowral swimming pool.
Ahmed Elomar, 70, drowned when he tried to drive his ute through floodwaters on a closed road in Western Sydney.
And a 37-year-old as yet unnamed man died in Canberra when his car was submerged in water. All three bodies were recovered by emergency services.
Mr Elomar was driving from his Ingleburn work to his Bringelly home when he decided to drive along Anthony Rd despite signs the road was closed.
Police divers retrieved his body about 11.30am. His ute had to be winched from Rileys Creek after being swept 60m downstream.
Local Helen Hickey, 44, said Mr Elomar wasn’t the only driver ignoring the warning signs.
“You could see it was starting to swell up. Cars were still going down. I think there were about 12 fire engines, police officers, ambulance and rescue workers trying to pull the car out,” she said.
“People were just ignoring the signs. There was water over the road sign.”
The road was covered in more than 2m of water yesterday and the suburb had 259mm of rain since Saturday.
An 18-year-old, who did not want to be named, said he could have suffered the same fate when his Toyota Starlet was swept up in the flash flooding on the same road about 12am on Sunday.
“Water was coming in and it was about waist high in the car. I put the window down and I climbed on to the roof and I walked out,” he said.
The teenager said he was charged with negligent driving by police.
“(Being killed inside a flooding car) could have happened to me if that fence wasn’t there. I was very lucky,” he said.
In Canberra, emergency services had rescued two 17-year-olds from a 4WD when they tried to save a man who was trapped in his ute.
Before they could get to the 37-year-old Kambah man his ute flipped and he was swept away.
Emergency services conducted 290 rescues over the weekend.
NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Kyle Stewart said, despite plenty of advanced warning of the dangerous weather and pleas to stay away from floodwaters, drivers continued to gamble with their lives.
“What we are absolutely frustrated by this weekend’s weather event is we have seen an extraordinary number of people enter flood waters against the warnings given,” he said.
“A large number have had to be rescued while many could have not been avoided due to the swiftness of the event. When you make a decision to enter floodwaters, no matter how experienced you are in that area or how innocuous the water may seem, when you go into those waters you are making a life and death decision.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has offered his condolences to the families of the three people who have died in floods.
The NSW government will fast-track applications for emergency funding, including interest-free loans and grants for individuals, small business and community groups of up to $130,000.
So far, $30 million worth of insurance claims have been made. Legal Aid NSW has also advised it will provide free legal advice if required.
More than 226,000 homes and businesses lost power during the weekend storms, with 7760 yet to have their electricity restored. Roads, bridges and public transport have also been affected.
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