Children rescued from bus in Newcastle floods

Nine children were rescued from a bus trapped in flash flooding in Newcastle as the east coast was hit by record rainfall.

Cars struggle through the floods in Mayfield, Newcastle. Picture: Instagram

Nine children have been rescued from a bus trapped in flash flooding in Newcastle on Sunday night as the eastern coast was hit by record rainfall.

Emergency services were called to the University of Newcastle at Callaghan just before 5.30pm to find a bus trapped by floodwaters.

The State Emergency Service (SES) used an inflatable boat to rescue the nine children and the driver, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Australia's east coast has been slammed by wild weather brought on by a strong low-pressure system. Heavy rain has caused flash flooding across parts of the NSW Central Coast. https://t.co/4oJgeyOsPq #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/fBEvLcmkMi

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) July 26, 2020

SES workers also rescued four other motorists who were trapped in their cars by flash flooding in separate incidents in the Newcastle area as heavy rains swept down the coast.

More than 180mm of rain fell over parts of southeast Queensland on Sunday, with the Gold Coast recording its wettest July day in 15 years.

Another 100mm fell on coastal parts of NSW as the low developed off the coast and the low pressure trough deepened.

The deluge extended as far inland as the Blue Mountains and residents living along rivers from Sydney to the far south coast were warned to brace for more heavy rainfall and potential flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a flood watch warning Sunday and said residents living near the Upper Nepean River in Sydney’s west to the Moruya River on the south coast should be alert to rising river water, which was expected to peak in the early hours of Monday.

⚠️ #Flood Watch issued for the New South Wales Coastal River Catchments from Upper Nepean to Moruya Rivers. See https://t.co/bYkoTGVrj0 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/GM6aBzUL6B

— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) July 26, 2020

Grace Legge from the Bureau of Meteorology said while the system was expected to stay close to the NSW coast over Monday, Sunday was likely to be the wettest day for much of the northern and central coastal, ­including Sydney.

“For Monday, the heavier rainfall is forecast to shift to the Illawarra and south coast, and possibly far-east Gippsland in Victoria, with a flood-watch ­already out for some catchments and the potential for river rises along the coastal parts from Sunday,” Ms Legge said.

The intense rainfall are ­expected to ease on Tuesday, but severe weather warnings remain along the NSW coast south of Taree as damaging winds strong enough to bring down trees and power lines are predicted.

Damaged houses along Wamberal Beach in the central coast on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

“Wind and rain are not the only concern with large and powerful waves forecast for Monday and Tuesday. This may result in hazardous beach conditions with very heavy surf and coastal erosion, especially for south-facing surf zones,” Ms Legge said. This included the central coast where destructive surf conditions associated with the ­recent Tasman low had already ripped away beachfronts, casting major damage to waterfront properties.

“Hazardous surf conditions are likely to ease from later Wednesday as the systems pull away from the coast,” Ms Legge said.

BOM meteorologist Diana Eadie said a cold front would clip southwestern Western Australia during the week, bringing a burst of showers, storms and gusty winds, while a high in the Great Australian Bight would extend dry, southerly winds across much of the remainder of the country, bringing with it clear days as well as heightened fire danger to the Northern Territory.

“This will also make for cool mornings across the southeast and eastern inland with extensive frosts,” Ms Eadie said.

There would be fine days across much of Queensland, the Northern Territory and north and central Western Australia as the low moved away, but it was expected to bring a few showers to western Tasmania, and the southern mainland.

Showers were likely to move across the northeast of Tasmania, however Hobart would remain dry, while very light falls were expected over the far southeast of South Australia.

“Behind this front, a strong high moves in, which will dominate the weather through the remainder of the week bringing mostly fine and unusually warm days across the country, with just light stream showers about the southern and western coastal fringe,” Ms Eadie said.