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‘Prepare to leave’: Flood evacuation orders as Sydney faces wettest weekend since 1998

The NSW SES has issued two evacuation orders for parts of Sydney, with another two warnings to prepare to leave within hours.

Natalie Brown, Frank Chung and wires
8 min read
February 10, 2020 - 9:22AM
Incredible footage of NSW and QLD flooding causing evacuations

Flood evacuation orders have been issued for low-lying areas north and south of Sydney as the NSW coast is battered by its most torrential downpour since 1998.

Utility companies were on Sunday rushing to turn the lights back on for the more than 100,000 customers left without power.

On Sunday night, the NSW State Emergency Service ordered an evacuation of a large area of Sydney’s southwest, including the Bankstown Aerodrome and the suburbs of East Hills, Holsworthy, Milperra, Moorebank, Picnic Point, Pleasure Point and Sandy Point.

“Evacuate immediately if safe to do so,” the SES said.

The SES has also ordered evacuations at Narrabeen Lagoon in Sydney’s north and the low-lying areas of Narrabeen and the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond Lowlands.

Residents around Narrabeen Lagoon were ordered to evacuate by 10.30pm.

“NSW SES is directing people within Narrabeen Lagoon to evacuate the high danger area using Pittwater Road or Ocean Street,” NSW SES said.

“Once floodwater (reaches) 2.4m Pittwater Road will be cut. If you remain in the area after 10.30pm you will be trapped without power, water and other essential services and it may be too dangerous to rescue you. This flood will be higher than the 2016 flood of the Narrabeen Lagoon.”

A person on a paddle board on a flooded Goodwin Street Narrabeen near Narrabeen lagoon. Picture: Damian Shaw
A person on a paddle board on a flooded Goodwin Street Narrabeen near Narrabeen lagoon. Picture: Damian Shaw

If residents are unable to stay with family or friends outside the flood area, an evacuation centre has been established at Mona Vale Memorial Hall on Park Street, and at the Cromer Community Centre on Fisher Road North.

Residents of Moorebank, Chipping Norton and Milperra were ordered to evacuate by 7pm. The affected area is all properties on Arthur Street, Rickard Road, Davy Robinson Drive and Newbridge Road between Milperra Bridge and Riverside Road.

“Once floodwater reaches 3.3m the streets will become inundated and evacuation route cut,” NSW SES said. An evacuation centre has been established at Dunc Gray Velodrome on Carysfield Road, Bass Hill.

“Take pets, essential items, warm clothes, medicines, insurance documents and valuables with you,” NSW SES said.

“Leave as early as possible to avoid restricted road access. Take drinking water and food due to expected travel time. Share this information with family, friends and neighbours and help others where possible.”

It comes as hundreds of millimetres of rain have drenched the coast, sparking warnings of high winds, “life-threatening” flooding and landslips. Scores of roads have been closed and the train system has been thrown into chaos.

The enormous storm over Sydney during the worst of the rain on Sunday. Picture: BOM
The enormous storm over Sydney during the worst of the rain on Sunday. Picture: BOM

Flooding along the Hawkesbury River could disrupt gas and water deliveries to the northwest Sydney towns of Richmond and Windsor, the SES said.

Emergency services have been swamped with calls since the deluge set in on Friday, while the extreme weather has caused transport chaos across Sydney.

“This wet and windy weather is really wreaking havoc on our roads today, with paramedics responding to five car accidents every hour since Friday night,” NSW Ambulance spokesman Giles Buchanan said on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve responded to multiple trees that had fallen onto cars, trees into houses and units, and people trapped in cars in floodwaters.”

A tree fell on a taxi in Sydney and four people were taken to hospital. Picture: NSW Ambulance
A tree fell on a taxi in Sydney and four people were taken to hospital. Picture: NSW Ambulance

NSW Maritime says a number of boats have been sunk by the turbulent conditions at sea.

Four people were hospitalised on Sunday afternoon after a tree fell on a taxi in the Sydney CBD.

A 16-year-old boy has been taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs after he was trapped between debris in waist-deep water for two hours in the Hunter region.

The teen was rescued by emergency services after falling into Allyn River while canoeing at about 9am on Sunday.

Utility company Ausgrid says more than 77,000 customers have lost electricity across Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle.

Endeavour Energy says a further 26,000 customers are without power in Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands regions.

“Crews are reporting extensive damage after very strong winds brought down power lines in many areas,” Endeavour Energy said.

Some areas across the state recorded more than 300mm of rainfall within 48 hours, with Bureau of Meteorology acting NSW state manager Jane Golding warning the situation would only intensify on Sunday.

A severe weather warning for very heavy rain, high winds, large waves and tides has been issued along the entire coast and will remain in place on Monday.

Gusts of wind, which some NSW residents have called “cyclonic”, have caused trees all over Sydney to come down, trapping vehicles underneath and blocking streets.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Ms Golding said NSW was facing a “very dangerous system”. “Potentially we haven’t seen anything like this since the late 1990s,” Ms Golding said.

“We’ve been given a bit of breathing space but it’s just starting to increase now, this is the most intense development of the system.”

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb urged drivers to take caution and avoid floodwaters. “There are currently hundreds of calls for assistance, including trees, boulders or power poles down onto cars and homes, and across roads, as well as power outages and localised flooding impacting various roads and traffic lights,” she said.

“I’m disappointed that I need to remind people to act responsibly and not to take risks in these types of conditions, especially when around floodwaters.”

Coastal researcher and Scientia Fellow at the University of New South Wales Mitchell Harley said waves in Sydney ramped up to 4.1m overnight, with individual waves of 8.8m being recorded. Models suggested peaks of up to 6.1m by 4pm but Monday morning’s high tide still looked to be the biggest concern.

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She warned of significant overland flooding, flash flooding and landslips, adding that the recent bushfires in some areas have made landslips more likely.

BOM senior forecaster Jordan Notara on Saturday afternoon said they could see 100 to 200mm falling over metropolitan Sydney and surrounds within the following 12 to 24 hours.

He warned that could cause “inundation on some places along the coast, minor to major flooding over some catchments and very strong winds along the coastline”.

Cudgera Creek, in NSW’s north east, recorded 320mm of rain in the period between 9am on Saturday and 4am on Sunday.

In the same period Tweed Heads recorded 235mm, Comboyne Public School recorded 189mm, Wentworth Falls recorded 155mm, and Ballina recorded 140mm.

AVOID ‘NON-ESSENTIAL’ TRAVEL ON SYDNEY TRAINS

A tree has affected overhead wiring at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. Picture: Twitter.
A tree has affected overhead wiring at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. Picture: Twitter.
The severe rain has also caused a landslip at Leura. Picture: Twitter.
The severe rain has also caused a landslip at Leura. Picture: Twitter.

Sydney’s trains have come under strain as rain continues to lash the city, with reports of heavy delays across the network.

Commuters are now being advised to “avoid any non-essential travel” and if they must travel, to allow extra time.

Trees falling onto overhead wires and onto tracks, flooding, external power issues and signal equipment repairs are all causing issues.

NARROW ESCAPE AS 4WD SINKS IN 15 SECONDS

Footage has emerged showing the frantic moment a woman and her niece made a last second escape from their sinking 4WD after being swept off the road by floodwaters in northern NSW.

The 67-year-old woman told Nine News it took all of 15 seconds for her and her niece to realise they were in trouble after becoming trapped in floodwaters near Lismore.

“Oh my God, holy crap,” a woman filming in a trailing vehicle can be heard saying in the footage.

“What are we going to do?” her father can be heard asking as the car stops at the edge of the floodwaters.

“Oh my God, their car is literally rolling off. They need to get off. Their car is sliding, they need to get out,” she says as her father wades in to help.

“It’s gone! It’s literally gone,” the woman continues in commentary as the pair begin walking away from their submerged 4WD.

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News.com.au understands the women were driving from Byron Bay to Lismore and the road wasn’t closed when the incident occurred but has since been shut by the local council.

The NSW SES has received more than 2600 calls for help since midnight on Wednesday and responded to at least 40 flood rescues, mostly involving motorists who drove into floodwaters, with six flood rescues alone performed in the Grafton area overnight.

A car is seen in floodwaters in Wentworth Point. Picture: Lee Williams
A car is seen in floodwaters in Wentworth Point. Picture: Lee Williams

Officers from Brisbane Water Police District and local residents put their lives at risk on Saturday night to rescue five men whose fishing boat capsized as they tried to navigate in the dark to go fishing.

“Thanks to the courageous actions of rescuers, the men were safely returned to shore before being treated for possible hypothermia and cuts and abrasions,” assistant commissioner Webb said, adding that none of the men were wearing a life jacket and had struggled to swim.

One family was rescued by the Rural Fire Service via helicopter after flood waters cut them off, leaving them isolated in the car, an SES spokesman told AAP on Sunday.

The SES on Saturday night urged residents across the state, including Sydney and the south coast, to prepare for heavy rain and potential flooding as a coastal trough causing rain and windy conditions continues moving south throughout the rest of the weekend.

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York urged those in low-lying areas to plan ahead. “Now is the time to plan how you will protect your family and property from flood,” Ms York said in a statement.

“Never drive, ride or walk through floodwaters. It’s too dangerous – and you never know how deep the floodwaters are, the condition of the road or how fast the water is flowing. Please keep clear of drains, creeks and causeways and if you are in a flood-prone area avoid parking vehicles in low-lying areas.”

The BOM has issued minor flood warnings for the Bellinger River, Hastings River, Georges River, Tuggerah Lake, Paroo River, Weir River and the Cooks River.

A minor to moderate flood warning is also in place for the Manning and Gloucester rivers, the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo rivers, the Orara River, and a moderate flood warning for the Macintyre River.

An initial minor flood warning is in place for the Tweed River, Wallis Lake and the Camden Haven River.

Major flooding is likely in the Colo River and Upper Nepean River with minor to major flooding in the Lower Nepean and Hawkesbury.

Flooding in these regions is particularly dangerous due to the “Bathtub Effect” caused by choke points where the rivers narrow, waters back up and begin spilling over the riverbanks.

The NSW SES said they had pre-positioned resources in regions which were expected to be flooded and warned residents to avoid unnecessary travel during storms.

‘A VERY DANGEROUS SYSTEM’

“We are seeing the signs that an east coast low will develop,” Ms Golding said on Saturday afternoon, which would bring gale force winds to some parts of the coast.

A King tide is expected on Monday morning which will increase the risk of flooding.

The SES issued a fresh warning to motorists after rescuers came to the aid of 13 cars which became stuck trying to drive through floodwaters on the NSW Central Coast.

“There’s always an alternative route – never drive through floodwaters,” NSW SES spokesman Terri Langenemdam said, after the 13 carloads of people had to be rescued in the Gosford and Wyong areas on Friday night.

“People think that it looks OK on the surface but there can be debris underneath, roads can be washed away. There’s also a reminder to keep kids, away from creeks, drains and causeways.”

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/flood-warnings-in-nsw-as-rain-buckets-down/news-story/19d56bfdb84bc43166f3cc743549a7ab