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Floodwater rages through Sydney suburb prompting evacuation warning for thousands of locals

Dangerous flooding is impacting huge parts of Sydney’s northern beaches, with urgent evacuation alerts in place for thousands of locals.

Brooke Rolfe
3 min read
March 9, 2022 - 7:46AM
Severe thunderstorm brings flash flooding to Sydney

Chaotic scenes have unfolded on Sydney’s northern beaches after much of the area was smashed by rising floodwaters.

On Tuesday, waves took shape down Redman Road in Dee Why, while knee-deep water swelled on Campbell Parade and surrounding streets in Manly Vale, inundating businesses and cars.

By 3.30pm up to 100mm of rain had been recorded in the northern suburbs alone, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Flash flooding is still causing problems in Manly, where 2,000 people are on alert for evacuation orders as authorities monitor water levels at the raging Manly Dam.

The dam has reached Amber Alert and has commenced “overtopping”.

“The rain and thunderstorms have not finished yet,” SES Commissioner Carlene York warned.

The Northern Beaches Council says it is moving quickly to clean up the damage however, with Councillor David Walton telling the ABC: “We’ve got an ability to clear a lot of the drains”.

One clip shared to Twitter showed brown floodwater filled with logs and tree branches gushing past the The Boathouse on Manly’s Shelly Beach.

The person who shared the clip said she “had to be rescued” from the popular eatery Tuesday afternoon.

Further north in Narrabeen, residents and businesses were ordered to evacuate by 7pm as the lagoon continues to rise. After midnight on Wednesday, residents were allowed to return to their homes for all properties surrounding Narrabeen Lagoon.

More heavy rain has fallen across the Hunter, Central Coast, Sydney, Illawarra and South Coast in mere hours.

Large and powerful seas are also expected this evening into Thursday with “very heavy surf” causing “likely” coastal erosion for southerly facing beaches within the South Coast, Illawarra and Sydney Metropolitan districts.

A shocking 102mm of rain fell at Mona Vale Golf Club in the three hours to 2.30pm, while 124mm fell in the six hours up to 11am at Forestville.

In Allambie, 119mm of rain fell in the six hours to 10am, and in Mosman 51mm fell in the hour before 1.45pm.

In the city’s Upper North Shore, the Roseville Bridge has flooded, with photos from the scene showing several cars stranded in the middle of the road.

While five of the six lanes have since reopened, the bridge is one of just two points to cross Middle Harbour and connects the city’s northern beaches with the north shore.

Extraordinary footage of the bridge showed water cascading off the 17.4m structure with floating cars threatening to spill over the edge.

SES assistant commissioner Nicole Hogan said 150 flood rescues had been performed across NSW in the past day.

More than 3000 calls for help have been made in just 24 hours, with 65 evacuation orders in place across the state.

“We’re seeing quite a lot of riverine flooding but also flash flooding. We would be urging people to really reduce their travel if they can,” Ms Hogan said.

The Hawkesbury River at Windsor has risen to almost 13 metres above sea level – eclipsing its previous record of 12.92 metres in March last year.

Photos from the area showed the Windsor Bridge almost entirely submerged, and the local Old Jolly Frog Hotel completely inundated with water.

In the Illawarra region, a landslide was recorded at Mount Keira, the RFS confirmed Tuesday evening.

It was reportedly the same site as a slip in 2012.

The Windsor Bridge was completely submerged under flood water.
The Windsor Bridge was completely submerged under flood water.
The Old Jolly Frog Hotel in Windsor was completely inundated with water.
The Old Jolly Frog Hotel in Windsor was completely inundated with water.

Floodwater was also filmed filling up the M5 tunnel Tuesday, with some drivers opting to take their cars through it despite being told to avoid the area.

The dangerous flooding came as the Bureau of Meteorology warned of a “tough 48 hours ahead” for Sydney, with 60,000 people subject to evacuation orders and warnings across the affected areas, according to emergency services.

People from the Central Coast to the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, Shoalhaven and Metropolitan Sydney were all urged to batten down the hatches.

The BOM earlier urged people in areas along the NSW coast and in the Greater Sydney area to prepare for the worst.

“Of particular concern are the already saturated catchments we have from the Hunter all the way down to the Hawkesbury-Nepean and even into the Shoalhaven and Wollongong areas,” senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said in Tuesday’s update.

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“We’re looking at flooding similar to last week on some parts of the river and in other areas it could be worse than what we saw last week, similar to what we saw in March last year.”

Transport NSW has urged motorists to avoid non-essential travel if possible as “more traffic is expected”, along with disruptions to the rail network.

Acting Transport for NSW Chief Operations Officer, Mark Hutchings, said for those that do need to use the roads please stay vigilant and slow down when you are travelling.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/floodwater-rages-through-sydney-suburb-prompting-evacuation-warning-for-thousands-of-locals/news-story/edd6d2b9e0ed3600dccc271302696f25