Galston storms: No car recovered in flooding

Police have called off a search for a silver Mercedes that may have swept off the Galston causeway during the weekend’s floods, sparking fears a person was inside.

Police rescue at a causeway in Galston after a silver Mercedes was reported missing. Picture: Bruce Relph

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Police spent two days searching for a car that may not have swept off a causeway in Galston Gorge during the weekend’s flash flooding and heavy storms.

Police divers spent two days searching for a silver Mercedes with fears somone may have been trapped inside.

A witness initially reported seeing the car being swept away on Sallaway Rd between 4.30pm and 5pm on Sunday.

Galston Rural Fire Service was informed of the incident first, conducting inquiries before contacting Ku-ring-gai Police and SES and searched the water by boat.

Following extensive diving searches on Sunday and Monday, no vehicle was recovered.

Working off an initial witness report, police worked hard to locate the vehicle.

The search continued until just after 8pm when police divers and specialist officers from the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit attended.

They were unable to complete a full underwater search due to the poor weather conditions.

Yesterday, a further search of the area was conducted but police were unable to find the vehicle.

Inquiries into the incident continued late into yesterday evening.

But a spokeswoman for NSW Police said it might have been a “big misunderstanding”.

“It possibly didn’t get swept off. We managed to get in contact with the lady that initially raised the alarm,” the spokeswoman said.

“(She said) she just saw a car head off that way rather than get swept off.

“We had divers out there and didn’t find (a vehicle).”

A Flood Rescue team from the NSW SES Hawkesbury Unit with Assistance from the RFS have attended Reedy Road at Maraylya where a bus driver and six children needed to be rescued after the bus became stuck in floodwater. Picture: NSW SES

This was just one of several rescue operations carried out by emergency services in Sydney’s north west over the weekend and on Monday.

A bus with six schoolchildren inside was rescued in floodwaters on Reedy Rd, Maraylya yesterday morning.