Aerial footage shows extent of Sydney floods
Footage captured from above Sydney floodwaters has shown just how far swollen rivers have encroached into communities.
Footage from an emergency services helicopter has captured the extent of floods currently impacting Sydney.
As well as the completely submerged Windsor Bridge, water can be seen stretching for kilometres in all directions, cutting off homes and businesses.
Water levels in the area reached their highest since 1978 this week, exceeding those seen just a few months ago.
At around midday Tuesday, the Hawkesbury river at Windsor reached roughly 13.93 metres, having topped out at 13.8 metres in March this year.
By Wednesday evening, the water levels were at 12.62 metres and said to be slowly falling thanks to reduced rainfall.
The Bureau of Meteorology said levels could fall below the “major flooding” mark of 12.2 metres overnight.
“NSW Rural Fire Service aviation crews undertook reconnaissance over the Windsor area of Sydney this afternoon, as we continue to assist the SES with flood and storm damage,” NSW RFS posted on Twitter.
“Crews are also helping with the clean-up where waters are receding.”
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) also deployed drones over Sydney’s northwest to help act as “eyes in the sky” for SES personnel.
Three police officers are being applauded for their heroic effort after they dived into nearby flood waters to save a man trapped inside his ute.
A South Windsor local alerted emergency services after spotting a flicker of light emerging from inside the ute which was stranded in the floodwaters in Sydney’s west on Tuesday.
A police officer somehow managed to make contact with the man inside the car.
He said there was just six inches of air between the river water and roof of the ute.
The officers – including two probationary constables - sprung to action and dived into the water to rescue the man.
“We just had to get to the car, that was all that mattered,” Constable Lindsay Morgan told the Today Show on Wednesday morning.
“He was running out of time and there were no other options.”
Wading out to the vehicle was no easy feat as the officers traversed a neighbourhood of obstacles below the waters.
“One second you are on a higher ledge and the next you are falling down a gutter or climbing over a fence you can‘t see,” Constable Ryan Blume-Poulton said.
“It was certainly challenging to get there.”
When they arrived, the man was slipping into a state of shock.
The volume of the moving floodwaters made the pressure against the doors impossible to force open.
Video captures the moment the officers perform the lifesaving rescue as they alerted the man to stay clear of the windows.
Using a rock and their police batons, the officers worked to smash the car windows but struggled to make a dent.
As they worked desperately to free the man, one of the officers noticed that a door was cracked open slightly.
They managed to pry it open with their hands and finally pull the man to safety.
It took just seven minutes for the police team to perform the rescue but they were unsure how long the man had been trapped in the cold and wet conditions.
“Thankfully once we got him out and on to dry land, he was getting himself back together,” Constable Morgan said.
“It was just the cold and the shock of what was happening”
“In the end, he was more worried about the car than he was himself,” he joked.
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