Sydney floods: Wild storm sparks urgent evacuation as heavy rainfall cuts off roads and rescue services save more than 20 people from trapped cars
Sydney has been pummelled by a ferocious summer storm, triggering chaos across the northern beaches and prompting an urgent emergency warning as streets turned into rivers and hillsides gave way.
As conditions worsened into the night, more than 20 people were rescued from vehicles swept up in rapidly rising floodwaters as thunderstorms hammered coastal NSW from late Saturday into Sunday morning.
Those living near Narrabeen Lagoon were evacuated late Saturday night as rising waters affected homes.
Residents were evacuated to higher ground with the help of Rural Fire Service volunteers and an evacuation centre was set up at Mona Vale Memorial Hall.
At Great Mackerel Beach, a landslide impacted three properties, with at least one woman injured.
Emergency services were inundated with hundreds of pleas for assistance from across Sydney as the slow-moving, wild weather intensified, swamping roads and stranding motorists.
Flights were delayed at Sydney Airport due to heavy rain and a ground stop for an aircraft that needed a priority landing.
Authorities are urging residents to stay indoors, avoid flooded roads and heed all emergency warnings as more severe weather is expected to lash the region.
Emergency services were inundated with hundreds of pleas for assistance from across Sydney as the wild weather swamped roads and stranded motorists
Many motorists were caught off guard by the rapidly rising floodwaters
A motorist had a lucky escape from a falling tree during Sydney’s wild storm
As flash flooding continues to sweep through Sydney’s beaches and roads, the advice is to stay inside
The Bureau of Meteorology warned that heavy rainfall is ongoing in parts of Sydney and the Blue Mountains, with severe thunderstorms likely to produce heavy falls that may lead to flash flooding near the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Manly, Wisemans Ferry and Riverstone.
Senior meteorologist Edward Townsend-Medlock said more heavy rainfall was expected from Sydney’s northern suburbs through to the Hunter Coast on Sunday morning.
‘Within that concentrated area is where you could get some of those more severe thunderstorm cells that we saw, for example, on the Central Coast,’ he told AAP.
‘The trough is expected to weaken by Sunday afternoon as it moves offshore.
‘It remains wet and it’s going to be cloudy. But there’s no risk of those severe thunderstorms.’
Warnings remain in place for hazardous surf along beaches from Newcastle to Batemans Bay and Eden, with more than 20 beaches closed.
On Saturday, a woman died after her car was struck by a falling tree branch in the Southern Highlands.
The woman, who has not been identified, was driving on the Illawarra Highway at Macquarie Pass, south of Wollongong, when the vehicle was hit by the bough about 4pm on Saturday.
Emergency services were inundated with hundreds of pleas for assistance from across Sydney
Residents wade through floodwaters after heavy rain pummelled NSW over the weekend
Campsites across NSW have been left submerged by floodwaters
Drivers have been left stranded as floodwaters continued to rise over the weekend
A man, who is believed to have been sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered minor injuries. Two people in the back seat were not physically injured.
The wild weather is expected to weaken later today.
