NSW weather live: More Aussies prepare to evacuate, Major Sydney dam expected to spill

A leading weather expert has revealed conditions of the weather system off the NSW coast are “equivalent to a category 1 cyclone.”

Areas near Victoria could be in the firing line as the destructive “bomb cyclone” continues to batter NSW, as thousands of homes and businesses remain in the dark.

Heavy rainfall, flash flooding and damaging winds of up to 125km/h as a result of the coastal low weather system and is set to intensify on Wednesday.

Severe weather warnings are in place from as far north as Coffs Harbour to the South Coast. Commuters in affected regions have been urged to “avoid non-essential travel across the rail network”.

NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz said that “the biggest risk area for us today, as we move forward with the intense rainfall” is on the state’s South Coast, particularly around Sussex Inlet, Burrill Lake and Shoalhaven.

“It has been a very wild night … and we are not out of the woods yet,” she told Today.

“Where we’re most concerned now is the southern flank of this system, which is really impacting the Illawarra region right down to Bega. We do expect that the rain will intensify, as will the wind gusts. But it doesn’t mean that places like Sydney are out of the woods either.”

Follow on for live updates

Originally published as NSW weather live: More Aussies prepare to evacuate, Major Sydney dam expected to spill