Livelihoods disappear in Sydney flooding

All Lorraine Smith could do was watch from her kitchen window as water swirled around her house in McGraths Hill on Sydney’s outskirts, rising quickly above her paddocks.

Reg and Lorraine Smith looking on as the Hawkesbury River rises in McGraths Hill, Sydney. The Smiths are determined to ride out this flood, but they concede evacuating could be their only option. Picture: Jane Dempster

All Lorraine Smith could do was watch from her kitchen window as water swirled around her house in McGraths Hill on Sydney’s outskirts, rising quickly above her paddocks.

“The road went under at 6pm,” the 74-year-old said.

“Pitt Town is completely cut off from McGraths Hill, and it will be a lot worse on Monday.”

By 7pm on Sunday, Lorraine’s paddock had disappeared from view, submerged under 8m of muddy and potentially contaminated water.

Parts of McGraths Hill were inundated on Sunday, as persistent rainfall pushed the Hawkesbury River over is banks.

A police car is trapped in the flooded Hawkesbury River. Source: Nine News via Twitter

While Lorraine and her husband Reg, 73, are determined to ride out this flood, as they did in 1990, they concede evacuating could be their only option.

“We were completely blocked off in 1990,” she said.

“We effectively became an ­island. We’ve never had to evacuate before, but this is horrendous stuff. It’s going to be worse than the 1990 flood, and that was big.”

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the weekend’s flooding will be the worst in NSW since 1961, with authorities closely monitoring the Hawkesbury that was threatening western Sydney communities, including Penrith.

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam spills over on Sunday. Picture: WaterNSW

Lorraine’s daughter, Katie Kentwell, said the flood had “completely isolated” the township of Pitt Town, forcing education officials to close three local schools on Monday.

At Pitt Town’s local watering hole, the Bird and Hand Inn, bartender Gabby Brown, 22, said the venue was brimming with nearly 100 people, with many locals seeking refuge.

“A lot of people here have evacuated because their houses are under water,” she said.

Local residents wade through floodwaters with their belongings in Sydney yesterday. Picture: Reuters

“Locals have been saying they had to move their animals out of paddocks, and now they’re staying with friends and family … it’s been a very very busy day at work.”

Ian Burns, owner of a Hawkesbury Paddlewheeler business, said he sailed off from his Portland docks downstream early Sunday to stay safe.

Flooded Homes in Regentville, western Sydney. Picture: Toby Zerna

“We are just sitting on the boat about an hour south of Windsor,” Mr Burns said. “It was too dangerous to stay there, with the river rising so quickly. We had to get out.

“We are just waiting now for a message from the maritime authorities to see if we can stay here, otherwise we will have to keep moving down the river tonight.”

Soaked nation: Where the rain has fallen.

Both local caravan parks — the Hawkesbury Riverside Gardens Caravan Park and Percy’s Place — had been forced to evacuate all residents for safety and predicted there would be serious damage as a result of the rain.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian described flooding in Sydney’s western suburbs as a one in 50-year weather event, warning that further evacuations, perhaps of another 4000 people, were imminent.