NSW weather as it happened: Floods across Sydney and NSW as more rain lashes the state, Warragamba Dam spills

It’s time for us to say good night after a full day of our extensive coverage of the NSW floods, thank you very much for joining us. We’ll continue our live coverage on Monday. If you’re just checking in, here’s a recap of the day’s major events.

• Residents in western parts of Penrith, Jamisontown and Mulgoa were ordered to evacuate on Sunday afternoon, with other communities along the Hawkesbury River told to prepare to leave their homes.
• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned up to 4000 residents in the Hawkesbury Nepean valley could be forced to evacuate, with a collision of two weather systems expected to bring more rainfall through the week.
• The Hawkesbury River at North Richmond may reach 16.4 metres by 7am on Monday, in what the weather bureau is warning will be the worst floods experienced since November 1961 along the river.
• Almost 200 people were rescued from floodwaters in the past 24 hours, while more than 2700 calls for help were received by the SES over the same period.
• The river network near the Warragamba Dam is causing concern for emergency services, with its overflow inciting a row between two NSW ministers.
• Communities in areas hit hardest by flooding can access disaster relief payments of up to $1000 from the federal government.
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Defence Force was standing by, ready to assist NSW if requested.

Almost 200 people have been rescued from floodwaters in NSW over the past 24 hours as emergency services urge communities to be vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel as the extreme weather continues.

The latest figures provided by the SES show the disaster response agency has received more than 8300 requests for assistance throughout the state since the heavy rainfall event began on March 10, with more than 2700 calls for help in the past 24 hours.

The Hawkesbury is expected to reach and exceed the 1961 flood.Credit: Nick Moir

More than 750 people have been rescued during the weather event, with 197 rescues occurring in the past 24 hours.

Following evacuation orders for residents in parts of Penrith, Jamisontown and Mulgoa earlier today, warnings have been issued for residents in the eastern part of Eastern Creek, including properties in parts of Riverstone, Schofields, and Quakers Hill.

All residents in caravan parks along the Hawkesbury River from Windsor and Wisemans Ferry are being urged to prepare to evacuate, as well as the Windsor CBD, South Windsor, southern parts of Wilberforce, and Marsden Park, among other areas.

Major flooding higher than the 1961 event is expected along the Hawkesbury River, with heavy rainfall upstream of Penrith causing the river levels to rise sharply.

Three-quarters of the Warragamba Dam’s capacity will flow into it in the seven days since the extreme weather event causing flooding throughout parts of NSW began.

WaterNSW, which manages the dam’s operations, said modelling showed about 1500 gigalitres of water will likely enter the dam, 75 per cent of its 2000 gigalitre storage capacity.

Floodwater spills over Warragamba Dam on Sunday.Credit: Nine News

The dam’s spillway is releasing water at a rate of 450 gigalitres per day, and that rate could increase as storage levels rise.

The NSW Government-owned entity said flow data up to Sunday morning indicated half of the floodwaters in the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system downstream of the dam were from tributary flow, not the dam.

WaterNSW said in a statement that while it wasn’t authorised to lower the storage based on weather forecasts, significant pre-releases prior to a flood event could make flooding events more dangerous.

“Downstream tributaries could be inundated in a big rain event, and the addition of extra water released from the dam could increase downstream impacts,” the statement reads.

The areas around Port Macquarie and Taree, where the Hastings and Manning Rivers respectively run through, have been the focus of much of the devastation on the Mid North Coast over the past few days.

Using satellite imagery, the Herald is able to give a bird’s-eye view of the spread of the inundation by comparing the regions between March 12 and March 19.

With another major flood warning issued for the Hastings River, these images are likely to change again in the near future.

Jen Clark was too worried to sleep on Friday night. Rapidly rising floodwaters had forced her eight-year-old son Kai and 27 of his schoolmates to spend the night in their school library, burrowing under blankets donated by neighbours.

He wasn’t used to sleeping without her nearby. He was scared. And as water and wind lashed the town, she didn’t know how long he would be stranded.

Jordan Marden was stranded at her school due to floodwaters on her 7th birthday. 

“You feel so helpless, even though they’re very reassuring at the school,” she said.

Students at Kendall Public School, near Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast, had barely begun their lessons on Friday when the principal sent word to parents that a nearby river was rising rapidly and the crossing would soon be cut off.

Read the full story here.

Herald photographers have been out covering the floods in northern NSW and western Sydney. Take a moment to check out the photo gallery showcasing some of the day’s dramatic scenes as they unfolded.

Photos: Nick Moir, Dean Sewell

Flights in and out of Newcastle Airport have been suspended due to flooding on the runway, with the area having seen 50 milimetres of rainfall since 9am on Sunday.

Flights in and out of Newcastle Airport have been suspended due to flooding on the runway.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers

In an announcement on the airport’s Facebook page, the operator announced the airfield’s closure just after 6pm, and said the closure was scheduled to remain in place in midday Wednesday, with further heavy rain forecast for the area.

“Regular assessments of the airfield, will however, take place between now and then and may result in an earlier resumption of flights,” the operator said, urging people to contact their airlines directly for more details.

NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott has blamed his cabinet colleague, Water Minister Melinda Pavey, for failing to mitigate Warragamba Dam spilling as western Sydney faces evacuations.

A dispute between the ministers which has been ongoing for a year has intensified as the heaviest rain since 1961 batters the Nepean and Hawkesbury catchment and Sydney’s main dam spills over.

David Elliott has blamed his cabinet colleague, Melinda Pavey, for failing to mitigate the Warragamba Dam spilling.Credit: Steven Siewert, Nine News, Janie Barrett

Mr Elliott said he had been on the public record in his role as the MP for Baulkham Hills about the need to release water from the dam in preparation for the La Nina weather event.

He said on Sunday said there would need to be “a full and frank discussion” about managing dam levels once the severe weather event was over. Ms Pavey said the significant rainfall caused the spill.

“It’s naive to think we could have reduced the dam to 25 per cent which is the number on current projections that would have avoided a spill,” Ms Pavey said.

“We’ve never had the dam below 38 per cent and this is a one-in-50-year event.”

Read the full story here

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has been forced to evacuate his Penrith home after Nepean River levels rose to a 60-year high on Sunday night.

The Panthers coach, who is living in a property owned by son Nathan while he renovates his Northern Beaches home, left the Ladbury Avenue house after the NSW State Emergency Service issued an evacuation warning to residents close to the rising river on Sunday afternoon.

Ladbury Avenue in Penrith on Sunday afternoon, where Ivan Cleary has been forced to evacuate (insert).Credit: Getty and Nine News

Penrith chairman Dave O’Neill and the club’s welfare and education officer Shane Elford have also been evacuated.

They are just a few of several flood-related issues that have thrown Penrith’s grand final rematch preparations against the Melbourne Storm into chaos, with the club’s training fields predicted to be underwater by Monday as floods rage through western Sydney.

Flood levels were predicted to rise well above 10 metres by 9pm on Sunday night, leaving the Panthers’ training fields in danger of being engulfed by the rising water levels shooting off the Nepean River.

The river level of the Nepean River is higher than the 1961 flood event, the most significant rain deluge in 60 years. Penrith’s academy was built in a flood zone, which is why the $22 million facility itself was elevated a couple of metres above the field level when built in 2016. The club is confident the academy will not flood, however there are concerns the club will have to base itself out of a different facility this week.

Penrith’s academy (pictured on Google Maps) is situated right next to the overflowing Peach Tree Creek.

Read the full story here

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the severe storms and flooding throughout NSW were concerning for the whole country.

“I wish you every safety in these trying times,” he said in a video posted to social media.

Mr Morrison said further Commonwealth support was available to the NSW government whenever NSW Premier Gladys Berejikian decides to seek it.

“[The] NSW government has very competent agencies, very professional people who know how to manage these types of events, they’ve done it many times before,” he said.

“We will stand there in support of them, as they need, through the defence forces and other agencies.”

Scenes from Windsor today as families evacuate and the bridge goes under.Credit: Dean Sewell

It comes as the government announced it was extending Australian disaster payments to those severely affected by flooding or storms in 18 local government areas around greater Sydney and regional NSW.

“These events are going to go on for some days, as the Premier has already outlined. This is a very complex weather system that is impacting on NSW at present over a very large area,” he said.

“One in 50 year floods in the Sydney metropolitan area, and of course one in 100 year floods in the mid-north coast. So this is a very serious storm and flood event, and there will be a big clean-up operation on the other side.”