Dozens more flood evacuation orders issued amid unprecedented Warragamba Dam spill
Police have shared stunning pictures from the air of Sydney’s fourth flooding event in a matter of months. Read the details and see the impact of Sunday’s Sydney’s wet weather and flooding.
NSW
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A mum and her new baby are among the residents of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley doorknocked by the SES under dozens of evacuation orders and warnings issued as the Warragamba Dam continues to spill at unprecedented levels.
The Western Sydney dam is currently spilling at 500 gigalitres — a level that exceeds what the community witnessed in March and April 2022, and March 2021.
A Hawkesbury SES Unit brought a new mum and her six-week-old baby Havana to high ground on Sunday afternoon amid concerns the pair would be isolated at Gronos Point, Wilberforce, lifting them through 400mm of water to be reunited with friends.
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said communities that had never flooded before could now be inundated.
Emergency services have responded to 83 flood rescues in the past 24 hours alone.
“If you were safe in 2021, do not assume you will be safe tonight. This is a rapidly evolving situation. And we could very well see areas impacted that have never experienced flooding before,” she said in a snap press conference late on Sunday night.
“We know that many properties along Hawkesbury-Nepean valley do become isolated in the event of major flooding.”
As of 8pm, all three major river crossings – the Yarramundi, Richmond and Windsor bridges – are closed. The Hawkesbury River is now lapping at the “flood-resilient” Windsor Bridge, which opened in May 2020 and is built to withstand a one-in-three year flood.
Ms Cooke told people to check the latest weather and evacuation advice before going to bed on Sunday night.
Bureau of Meteorology’s Jane Golding said Newcastle experienced the brunt of Sunday’s bad weather but torrential rain was spread across many other parts of the state.
She warned that another 100mm of rain could fall overnight in many areas, “on top of the hundreds we’ve received”.
Ms Golding warned that the state would wake up to extensive coastal erosion after heavy rain and damaging winds overnight.
North Richmond and Windsor are expected to see flood levels that surpass earlier floods this year and last year before the water heads downstream to Wisemans Ferry.
The NSW Police Force Aviation Command shared aerial vision of the swollen Hawkesbury-Nepean River and Georges River around Chipping Norton. Even early in the day, the shots made clear the rapid rise of the rivers as the consumed roads and fields.
SES Commissioner Carlene York said the weather was forecasted to “escalate” overnight.
“We’re anticipating that these levels will rise above the last 18 months of flood levels,” she said.
“Just because it got to the front doorstep on the last one (flood) doesn’t mean it won’t escalate overnight.”
Ms York told people to not travel overnight unless necessary.
“I don’t want to be reporting any loss of life here or at any future press conferences,” she said.
“We are asking that you don’t travel where it’s not necessary. It’s very difficult to identify floodwaters on roads at night. And it’s almost impossible to identify how deep those waters.”
Residents of 50 to 94 Terrace Rd North Richmond were told to get out of their homes to higher ground by 4pm on Sunday or risk being trapped in floodwater.
The warning came as the Bureau of Meteorology issued a major flood warning for the Nepean River.
“Heavy rainfall over the Nepean Valley since Saturday morning coupled with high dam levels have resulted in major flooding in the Nepean River at Menangle where river levels have exceeded the flood height reached in the March 2022 flood event, 15.92 metres, and peaked slightly below the April 2022 flood height, 16.83 metres,” the warning said.
“Further downstream, spills from Warragamba Dam combined with inflows from the Upper Nepean River have caused major flooding at North Richmond.
“Further river level rises are expected during the remainder of Sunday into Monday and are expected to cause major flooding at Windsor.
“Flood levels are likely to exceed the flood levels reached in the past three major flood events since March 2021.”
The river reached a height of 13.8m in March, and is likely to top 14m in coming days.
There have also been additional evacuation orders for Freemans Reach, Ebenezer, Sackville North and Leets Vale.
Emergency evacuation centres have been set up for those fleeing rising floodwaters across Sydney’s southwest and the Hawkesbury, and Windsor Bridge has flooded once again as emergency services warn the worst could be yet to come.
Residents stretching from Newcastle to Batemans Bay have been warned to prepare for “life threatening conditions” as NSW faced “dangers on multiple fronts”.
Five evacuation centres have been established, at Cabra-Vale Diggers Club in Canley Vale, the Narellan Family and Community Centre, Gymea Tradies Club, Richmond Club and North Richmond Community Centre.
Windsor Bridge is closed between Wilberforce Road and George Street in both directions due to flooding.
It was an eerie scene by the bridge where locals were seen helplessly watching the fast-moving waters of the Hawkesbury River rise throughout the day.
Agriculture will be among the most affected industries, with farmers and turf layers braced to lose all of the progress they’ve made since the March floods.
“We moved here and started the business last year in February, since then we’ve had all the floods,” Plant Culture Nursery operator Elmer Sager said as he finalised his evacuation packing.
“We managed to save some of the plants, we just have to keep going.”
Peter Higgins from the Sydney Polo Club was working diligently to try and save the horses and cattle on his property.
“We’ve had to move 62 cattle and about 60 horses,” he said.
“It’s all very expensive because they need to be moved by big trucks, the fuel is expensive and there’s a lot of labour involved as well.
“You see your options evaporate in front of you, every animal is precious and it takes a big effort to relocate them to safety.”
The Woods family, residents of one of the many low-lying properties on the Terrace, couldn’t believe their luck.
“We moved in 2020 and since then have had four floods, it’s hard to believe,” Mick Woods said.
“It’s really risen, they would call what we had last time a one in a hundred-year flood, and it’s happened twice.”
Tayna Cutts was on a race against time to salvage her valuables before the Windsor Bridge officially closed.
“We were in Sydney this morning and had to race back here and evacuate before they closed the bridge,” she said.
“We only had 40 minutes once we arrived.
“If we didn’t make it in time it’s a two-and-a-half-hour detour into the mountains if we were to get back to Sydney.”
Earlier, the Emergency Services Minister said flash flooding, riverine flooding and coastal erosion were all likely as the state was once again pounded with torrential rain.
The upper Nepean has already seen more rain than the devastating March floods with BOM concerned that other regions could also see more rain than previous flood events.
âš ï¸ #MAJOR FLOODING Hawkesbury River at North Richmond (WPS) may exceed the March 2021, March 2022 and April 2022 flood events SUNDAY NIGHT. Warning info https://t.co/iJsDmnTjAX
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) July 3, 2022
follow advice from @NSWSES#NSWFloodspic.twitter.com/jM8whJ2zoi
Ms Cooke urged people to reconsider their travel plans this school holidays.
“If you know your local community is prone to flooding, then please be prepared to evacuate and at short notice. And to all communities between Newcastle and Batemans Bay. I’m respectfully asking that you reconsider your travel plans at this time,” she said.
“In the last 24 hours the SES has responded to more than 1400 requests for assistance. In the same 24 hours they have conducted … 29 flood rescues.”
The warning comes as emergency services have been boating out southwestern Sydney residents left stranded by floodwaters, as thousands of households the city’s fringe face warnings to evacuate.
Residents of Ellis Lane, on the edge of Camden, were cut off on Sunday morning by swelling waters from the Nepean River.
The NSW SES used a boat there to evacuate an elderly woman ahead of worse weather predicted for Sunday afternoon. She was guided by the boat’s crew to a waiting ambulance for a routine check-up.
Other households on the swollen stretch of water have chosen to sit tight despite being cut off.
The SES used their new Unimog vehicles — specialist high-clearance trucks gifted by the Australian Defence Force and capable of driving through more than metre high water — to insert rafts into the quick-moving floods.
Emergency service personnel spent Sunday morning doorknocking residences north of Camden, while the ADF remains on standby to deploy if conditions worsen.
In southwest Sydney, more than 4000 people in low-lying areas of southwest Sydney have been told to evacuate before they are cut off by rising floodwaters.
Most of Sydney has recorded more than 100mm of rain since 9am Saturday, with a woman her 20s rescued after clinging to a tree for an hour to escape floodwater at Holsworthy.
Water has inundated shops, restaurants and closed roads at Chipping Norton, after the Georges River broke its banks.
The SES issued evacuation orders for streets in southwest Sydney just before midnight on Saturday, with residents in low-lying parts of Liverpool and Camden told to leave before it was too late.
Residents in low-lying areas of Woronora were also given an evacuation order just after midnight.
Throughout the morning evacuation orders were issued for parts for Camden, Georges Hall, Lansvale, Moorebank, Warwick Farm, Chipping Norton, Woronora, Wallacia and Bents Basin.
SES Commissioner Carlene York said the Australian Defence Force was assisting the state emergency services with sandbagging operations across the state.
Ms York said it was disappointing that the organisation had to conduct 29 flood rescues despite warning residents not to drive through flood waters.
“We had one example where a person was walking through floodwaters and got swept away and had to be rescued and were unable to be rescued for an hour and was hanging onto a pole,” she said.
“We have a number of youths isolated at a recreation camp in the Bargo area. We’re putting plans to evacuate them today. They are safe.”
Two ADF helicopters and 100 troops have been provided by the federal government to possible rescues as the possibility of another major flood looms.
For SES warnings head to https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/.
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Originally published as Dozens more flood evacuation orders issued amid unprecedented Warragamba Dam spill
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