Another season of water torture as third La Nina takes hold

A series of low-pressure fronts are expected to roll across coastal and inland NSW for several months.

Drone footage of Dubbo floods. Photo: Jessie Robinson

NSW can expect weeks of rolling flood warnings as a third La Nina season takes hold, with a series of low-pressure fronts expected to move across the state for several months.

After a 400km band moved from east to west on Saturday, the SES said evacuation orders covered approximately 3000 residents across the state, with more than 800 properties impacted by the deluge.

For almost 24 hours flash flooding inundated large swathes of Sydney, the northwest, Central West, Riverina and Illawarra regions, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning the worst weather was still to come.

On Sunday, Water NSW said most of the state’s regional dams had storage to capture inflow, but were fast approaching capacity as the Burrinjuck and Windamere dams along the Cudgegong River continued to spill for the first time in three decades.

It confirmed releases were occurring across the Burrinjuck, Blowering, Burrendong, Wyangala and Copeton dams to combat rising water levels, as Split Rock on the Upper Namoi also overflowed for the first time since 2001.

“Water NSW have made the decision to release significant water to help prevent any issues from next week’s rain band,” an SES spokesman said. “It will ensure we’re as prepared as possible for the arriving front.”

Flooding across Old Kurrajong Rd, North West of Sydney. Picture: Monique Harmer

Emergency services remain concerned about Bathurst, Mudgee, Canowindra and Warren in the state’s west, with thousands of residents told to avoid central Dubbo, where carparks, shopping centres, playgrounds, bridges, roads and campsites were impacted by dangerous floodwaters.

An urgent evacuation order was issued for Dubbo’s Western Plains Tourist Park, while flash flooding prompted dozens of calls for assistance at Mudgee, after a landslip on the Castlereagh Highway closed a section of the road linking the town to Lithgow.

Emergency Services Minister Stephanie Cooke said the weekend’s rainfall should be treated as another weather event in a sequence of low-pressure fronts expected to move across the state over spring and summer.

“The sun might be out in ­various parts of the state, and we may be seeing some dry conditions at the present, but our rivers continue to rise and we know there is another event coming through,” she told reporters on Sunday.

“We may see a reprieve for a few days, but we will be heading into some more difficult conditions towards the end of the week.

“Communities in regional, rural and remote NSW will be on edge for the next few days while we await another big system to arrive.”

Emergency services issued more than 80 flood warnings on Saturday and conducted 27 rescues across the state, while evacuation centres were established at Castle Hill, Dubbo, North Richmond and Richmond.

By Sunday afternoon, hundreds of residents had been relocated to evacuation points in the Central West, as SES crews waited for water levels to drop along the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers before beginning to clear the flood damage.

They were assisted by up to a hundred ADF personnel, who responded to emergency calls and set up three operational bases in NSW.

As the torrential rain subsided, emergency warnings were issued for Gronos Point, on the northern bank of the Hawkesbury River, with authorities urging people to evacuate on Sunday morning.

NSWRFS crews from Otford and Helensburgh rescued a person trapped on the roof of their vehicle in flood waters. Picture: Twitter

Residents along the Colo River at Upper Colo, Colo Heights, Central Colo, Whatleys Creek and Gospers Creek also remain on high alert, after receiving multiple warnings from 1am on Sunday.

Emergency services later instructed residents in the Sackville area to evacuate by 11.45pm, as the Hawkesbury River continued to rise, marking the state’s eighth evacuation order since Saturday.

SES Commissioner Carlene York said it was essential residents in flood-prone areas understood Saturday’s rainfall event would become more common in the coming weeks, despite the relatively clear conditions forecast until Wednesday. “It is very dangerous out there on the roads and we are seeing a lot of flash flooding and the rivers are still rising,” she said.

Anthony Albanese, commented on the situation from Perth, said the federal government would provide as much assistance as the NSW government requested: “The federal government has made available three choppers, (and) our minister has advised the NSW government we remain available to provide assistance should any request come.”