La Nina: Flood-hit NSW warned to brace for wet months

Residents should remain vigilant about increased rainfall in the coming months as La Nina’s influence is to here to stay.

The flooded Hawkesbury River rising closer to a home on Wilberforce Rd in Wilberforce. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Bureau of Meteorology says residents across NSW should remain vigilant going into the weekend despite early morning updates showing floodwaters falling in most parts of the state.

Flood warnings are still in place as moderate flooding is occurring along the Hawkesbury River in North Richmond, Sackville and Lower Portland.

Moderate flooding is also happening in Singleton and Maitland as river levels are close to peak.

Flood levels are beginning to recede for suburbs in northwest Sydney after the Hawkesbury River peaked at Windsor at 13.8m on Wednesday.

The Hunter River at Singleton peaked at 13.16m on Wednesday evening although by early Friday, river levels at Singleton had fallen below the moderate flood level at 11.5m.

Despite falling flood levels, residents of the east coast of Australia are being warned to brace for above average rainfall for the next few months due to La Nina, as rain systems in the Pacific shift west.

Even though the weather bureau said in January 2022 that La Nina “is past its peak”, experts now say its influence will continue for the coming months.

The possibility that La Nina would remain in 2023 could not be ruled out, meteorologist Tom Saunders told Sky News.

There was a 50 per cent chance the weather event would reoccur the next year.

The last significant La Nina to hit Australia was in 2010 to 2012.

The weather event created intense floods in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. It also caused Cyclone Yasi in 2011, which cost an estimated $3.5bn in northern Queensland.

The Insurance Council of Australia on Friday updated its claims tally from the NSW and Queensland floods, as insurers have now received 126,511 claims.

The estimated cost of the floods is now $1.89bn based on the economic modelling of previous flood events.

This week the federal government announced it would spend almost $70m to combat the growing outbreak of Japanese encephalitis virus.