Hundreds of residents in Sydney’s north-west have been ordered to flee their homes after heavy rain caused flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River catchment.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has announced assistance measures, after the heavy rain on Friday and Saturday that prompted authorities to open the spill gates at Warragamba Dam.
Evacuation orders remain in place for several towns and suburbs along the Hawkesbury, including parts of Agnes Banks, Freemans Reach, north of Bligh Park and the Western Richmond Lowlands.
The blue skies reappeared over Sydney on Sunday, but about 350 homes – with about 960 residents – were still subject to the evacuation orders.
The NSW State Emergency Service said 2,700 homes had been subject to evacuation orders during Friday and Saturday. The SES rescued more than 100 people from flood waters and that, while the flood threat was easing, the clean up would be “significant”.
“We have seen the highest peak and we’re now following that water downstream and making sure we warn the communities in its path,” SES Ch Supt Dallas Burnes told Nine.
“The clean-up [will be] significant … you can’t stop a flood, it’s not like a fire where you can send appliances and defend a dwelling – we’ve really just got to make sure we get people and their livestock out of harm’s way.”
The federal and NSW governments announced on Sunday that disaster assistance funding would be made available to flood-affected residents in the Blue Mountains, Camden, Hawkesbury, Kiama, Liverpool, Penrith, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, Upper Lachlan, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Wollongong local government areas.
“Work to assess the impact of flooding across the state is being conducted as quickly as possible, with disaster declarations like these a crucial first step in unlocking assistance,” the NSW emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, said.
“The SES has continued to work throughout the night to reach out to communities and I’m confident that with the work they’ve been doing, that we are being incredibly proactive.”
The rain on Friday and Saturday earlier caused landslips, flash flooding and a house in Wollongong to be swept into a creek. Investigations on Sunday will also continue into the death of a man found in water in Penrith.
While the threat appears to have eased, communities on Sydney’s fringes will be nervously watching river levels on Sunday.
Further river rises and moderate to major flooding is expected along the Hawkesbury River on Sunday, after the week ended with 200mm across much of the catchment.
The river was expected to peak above the major flooding level at North Richmond on Sunday morning, albeit 2 metres below the peaks reached in major floods in 2021 and 2022.
More than 107 warnings were in place late on Saturday night, with 32 emergency alerts still in place on Sunday morning.
Cloudy conditions and scattered showers are forecast for the hardest-hit areas on Sunday, including Sydney and Wollongong.
The weather system’s final hurrah was expected to hit the north-east of the state, as the coastal trough brought thunderstorms, possibly severe, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, heavy rain is expected to drench parts of Queensland on Sunday, with up to 200mm tipped to fall in the south-east of the state.
A major flood warning is in place for Warrego River in the state’s south-west.
Flood warnings are also in place for Eyre Creek, Weir River, Balonne River, Moonie River and Norman River.
Both the Nindooinbah and Moogerah dams, more than 100km west of the Gold Coast, have started spilling excess water.
