Sydney flooding: Commuter chaos as trains cancelled, Manly floods as evacuation alert goes out

Severe weather continues to create havoc across Sydney, with train services cancelled and commuters left stranded in the city.

Intense rainfall and damaging winds brought on by an east coast low travelling across NSW has created havoc across Sydney.

Metropolitan Sydney has been slamed by heavy rainfall and high-speed winds of up to 90km per hour, with warnings the relentless downpour could continue through the night.

The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several areas of Sydney, with the intense rainfall causing flash flooding in a number of suburbs across the city’s northern beaches.

The wild weather has also caused commuter chaos, with dozens of train services cancelled in the city’s west.

#ALERT: There are heavy delays on Warringah Road in Sydney with severe flooding on #Roseville Bridge.

Water is struggling to drain off the bridge and multiple cars have already become trapped. #9News

INFO: https://t.co/rMq4pbpctGpic.twitter.com/BizyGwwC0y

— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 8, 2022

This is the Spit pic.twitter.com/Z2OCeQvHtJ

— Spiney (@spiney21) March 8, 2022

Peak hour chaos as rain clogs Sydney

A number of public transport cancellations have forced commuters to squeeze into packed trains across western Sydney.

A video shared to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon shows hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder entering a single train car.

Commuters flooded the platform at Parramatta station, where service boards were left blank due to delays from the torrential downpour.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Beaches, Manly residents have been told to prepare to evacuate, with wild photos showing drivers braving high flood waters.

Train stations were packed as the weather stalled public transport.

Sydney Trains posted photos of flooded tracks.

Flooding in the Northern Beaches ramped up on Tuesday.

A landslip and flooding at Pymble has stopped all trains from Hornsby to Gordon on the North Shore Line

Buses are replacing trains in both directions on the T1 Western Line between Schofields and Richmond with to flooding on tracks halting services.

Trains have also been stalled on the T8 Airport and South Line between Turrella and Revesby in both directions after flooding at Bardwell Park.

Roseville bridge floods, cars left stranded

In the city’s Upper North Shore, the Roseville Bridge has flooded.

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. Despite the bridge’s tall clearance, the intense rainfall has flooded the six-lane road in an unprecedented event.

According to the BOM, a convergent band of showers and storms has lashed the northern Sydney Metropolitan district, with a set of very dangerous thunderstorms detected on the radar at 3.30pm.

In the three hours to 3.15pm, the northern beaches suburb of Mona Vale was hit with 93.4mm on rainfall. The nearby suburb of Mosman was also hit with 128.5mm of rain in the six hours to 12.30pm.

Incredible vision of The Spit – a locality which connects Mosman to Seaforth and the start of the northern beaches – showed water cascading onto the road, with cars driving cautiously to avoid rain.

Given the wet roads, the Roads and Maritime Services have urged motorists to avoid non-essential travel. The NSW SES have also issued several pleas for people not ro drive on flooded roads.

Manly residents prepare to evacuate

Roughly 2000 residents in Manly have been told to prepare to evacuate as the Manly Dam threatens to spill over.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said an evacuation order for low-lying properties in the suburb was imminent, but NSW SES clarified at 3pm the alert had been downgraded.

SES Commissioner Carlene York warned conditions could worsen into the night.

“[Residents should] ensure that they are ready to evacuate if we move from a warning to an evacuation order. The rain and thunderstorms have not finished yet. Today there is a chance that [the dam] may go over that area and we may go back up into that evacuation order,” she said.

The Manly Unit of NSW SES warned that residents who need to relocate can access the Seaforth Village Community Centre in the Seaforth Town Centre.

The Northern Beaches Council said Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club was also open for people who may need to evacuate.

Northern Beaches lashed by floods

At NBSC Mackellar Girls Campus in nearby Manly Vale, footage taken from inside a classroom showed a car being washed away by rising floodwaters.

Shallow flooding is also causing nightmares for commuters along Pittwater Road from Narrabeen through to Dee Why.

Pittwater Road becomes Pittwater river with flooding in Dee Why #sydneyfloods#deewhy#northernbeachespic.twitter.com/9E9hFQu91N

— Road Less Travelled (@rdlesstravelled) March 8, 2022

MP for Mackellar in the Northern Beaches asked residents to exercise care when travelling.

“Please exercise caution on the roads around the Northern Beaches this afternoon and do not drive through flood waters,” he tweeted.

Roseville Bridge and Pittwater Road at Narrabeen are currently experiencing flooding.

Please exercise caution on the roads around the Northern Beaches this afternoon and do not drive through flood waters. pic.twitter.com/HH51srE8UO

— Jason Falinski MP - For The Beaches (@JasonFalinskiMP) March 8, 2022

Shopping centre ceiling collapsed

In the eastern suburb of Bondi, a portion of the ceiling at Bondi Junction Westfield has collapsed.

Images shared on social media showed a panel of the ceiling had fallen onto the escalators at the major shopping centre.

Sydney journalist Kerry Sackville said she nearly got hit by a piece of the fallen ceiling.

“Well, I just nearly got killed by a collapsing roof in Westfield Bondi Junction. Just missed it,” she wrote.

Well, I just nearly got killed by a collapsing roof in Westfield bondi junction. Just missed it. pic.twitter.com/IYArNtY2vy

— Kerri Sackville (@KerriSackville) March 8, 2022

Luckily the falling roof didn’t appear to injure anyone. Picture: Twitter @Valentine702.

However the moment was captured and shared on social media. Picture: Twitter @Valentine702.

ABC journalist James Valentine also shared footage in which large chunks of the ceiling can be seen on the escalators.

“This collapsing ceiling at Westfield Bondi Junction missed me by two metres,” he tweeted.

NSW Ambulance confirmed ambulances had not dispatched to the scene.