NSW floods: 55,000 people ordered to evacuate by NSW SES

More than 100 evacuation orders are in place across NSW amid continued threats from flooding and overflowing rivers in Sydney and the Illawarra despite storms subsiding.

Evacuation orders across the state continue to rise on Tuesday, with NSW SES ordering residents in 102 locations across Greater Sydney to leave their homes as the flood emergency continues.

In total, more than 55,000 people are currently under evacuation orders.

A further 55 evacuation warnings are also currently in place currently across NSW as rivers and catchments swell after heavy rains, including those in southwest Sydney, the Hunter Coast, and the Illawarra.

The State Emergency Service issued 22 new evacuation orders across Monday night, with residents from the communities of Woronora, Bonnet Bay, McGraths Hill, and Mulgrave are among the thousands of residents under threat from flooding.

Emergency crews responded to 475 requests for assistance overnight, including 64 flood rescues.

In Liverpool, NSW SES has released footage of a daring rescue of cars trapped in floodwaters last night.

Personnel were also active at Wisemans Ferry yesterday, where they launched safety rafts into murky flooded waterways.

The total number of callouts since Friday has now risen to 5258.

NSW SES are again urging the community to stay safe and avoid unnecessary travel.

“In many areas it is still an evolving flood situation, and we may see more rain than what was originally forecast,” NSW SES assistant commissioner Dean Storey said.

“If there is an evacuation warning in place, be prepared to leave. Have an emergency kit ready to go with warm clothes, important documents, medications, laptops, phones and chargers.

The Bureau of Meteorology warns that while rain rates have generally eased, heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is still possible today in the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, Sydney Metropolitan, and parts of the Hunter including the Central Coast.

Heavy rainfall is possible over the Sydney Metropolitan and Illawarra districts this morning before starting to ease during the afternoon and evening, with areas such as Jervis Bay and Kangaroo Valley forecast to receive as much as 100mm.

There remains a gale warning in place on Tuesday for the northern Metropolitan and southern Hunter coastal fringe, with peak gusts up to 90km; and a strong surf warning for coastal areas of Sydney, the Illawarra, Central Coast, and Hunter regions.

Wave buoy observation off the Sydney coast reached 5.4 metres significant wave height early on Tuesday.