‘Still rising’: Flood warnings after heavy rain

About 600 residents in low-lying areas of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley were told to evacuate their homes on Friday night, as the river rose to flood levels.

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) responded to widespread flooding on the Hawkesbury River, as rain eased across the state.

About 8.15am on Saturday, flood waters peaked just below 10.5 metres on the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond.

The flooding comes at the end of an intense weather event where more than 2000 SES volunteers responded to more than 800 incidents and undertook 58 flood rescues in NSW.

Resident Declan Murphy said the whole low land around Richmond had been evacuated as the flooding worsened during Saturday.

“My father once said many years ago when we had the bad flood in 2019, that you would be lucky to see one or two of these in your lifetime, but I have seen so many now,” he said.

“The flood will have a massive impact on the area and up in the mountains, especially this long weekend which is normally really busy.

“The people up in the mountains cannot go anywhere.

“I have never seen it so quiet on a Saturday afternoon, the town is just empty the impact on businesses will be huge, but we get used to it.

“It is amazing the flood water is still rising.”

Windsor residents were on alert as the flood peak was expected to arrive later on Saturday, with the bridge still open to traffic.

The Richmond and Yarramundi Bridges remained closed due to flooding, and the Menangle and Cobbitty Bridges were reopened.

NSW SES crews established a resupply service at Wisemans Ferry on Saturday morning and crews door knocked impacted communities.

Once the flood waters receded, NSW SES would carry out damage assessments and cautioned people there could be damage to roads and infrastructure.

NSW SES acting commissioner Deb Platz said their priority was getting people back to normal as soon as possible.

“Our priority is to get people back to normal as soon as possible,” she said.

“It is important to check Live Traffic NSW and monitor conditions over the long weekend, especially if you’re driving on unfamiliar roads.”

The acting commissioner praised the actions of flood impacted residents across the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

“People in these communities should be commended for their safe, informed and sensible decisions,” she said.

“Residents there have been well prepared and have been heeding the warnings.”

She said this incident was a reminder of how responsive the Hawkesbury Nepean catchment was, and the need to be prepared for the next flood.

“We do not need to see significant rain to bring riverine and flash flooding.” she said.

“As we have saturated catchments and full dams the rivers can rise very quickly.”

At 7:30am on Sunday, the spill gates at Warragamba Dam opened

NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib has warned those in affected flood areas to stop driving into flood waters.

“Please, again and again, do not drive through flooded waters,” he said.

“There have been over 234 incidents that (SES) have responded to in the past 24 hours, and 13 of them have been flood rescues.

“So while I am incredibly grateful for the community who is following the instructions of the SES, who is putting their safety first, I still am disappointed in the number of rescues that we have to perform because people make some decisions to drive through flooded waters.

“What you are doing is you’re putting yourself at risk, but you’re also doing that to the volunteers and to those who have to rescue you. I couldn’t say it clearly enough. Please, do not drive through flooded waters.”

Prior to the rainfall, the Bureau of Meterology (BOM) had issued flood warnings for both the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers.

Other areas with flood warnings include the Cooks River, Georges and Woronora Rivers, Shoalhaven River and St Georges Basin.

“Major flooding is possible along the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and moderate flooding is occurring at Windsor. Minor flooding is peaking along the Nepean River at Penrith and possible along the Hawkesbury River at Sackville,” the BOM states.

However, the BOM has forecasted “no further significant rainfall” over the next couple of days.

While river levels are falling in some areas, places such as the Nepean River at Yarramundi, Grose River at Burralow and the Hawkesbury River at Windsor are still rising.

This follows as water from the Warragamba Dam spilt over into the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers.

Water NSW Chief Executive Andrew George reported that despite the dam receiving over 100mm of rainfall, the dam’s spill is “declining”.

“Warragamba Dam peaked overnight. Its spill rate peaked at about 240 gigalitres per day,” he said.

“The good news is that spill rate is declining and we expect a fall back to more normal releases.”

New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory

Along with multiple minor and moderate flood warnings in places across the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers, BOM has issued a gale warning for Batemans Coast.

There’s also strong wind warnings for the Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast and Eden Coast.

In Sydney, it’s expected to be partly cloudy with a slight chance of more showers and a maximum temperature of 21 on Saturday.

It’s expected to be partly cloudy in Canberra with a slight chance for showers and a maximum temperature of 17.

South Australia

Frost warnings have been issued for the Mid North and Riverland districts, with frost temperatures reaching minus one degrees.

It’s forecasted to be slightly cloudy in the Adelaide area, with slight chances of a drizzle and a maximum temperature of 16.

Victoria

Strong wind warnings have been issued along the East Gippsland Coast and are expected to continue into Sunday.

In Melbourne, it’s expected to be a cloudy day, with chances of a morning fog rolling in and showers in the evening, maximum temperature of 15.

Tasmania/Northern Territory/Queensland

No weather warnings have been issued for these states.

Mostly sunny in the Hobart area, with chances of cloudy weather later in the day. Patchy morning fog has been forecasted with a slight chance of a shower later in the evening, maximum temperature of 13.

A sunny day for the Sunshine State’s capital, with some light winds and a maximum temperature of 22.

Areas of smoke haze have been forecasted for Darwin City and the Outer Darwin area, with a sunny day expected and maximum temperature of 29.

Western Australia

Strong wind warnings have been issued for the Gascoyne Coast, Geraldton Coast, Bunbury Geographe Coast and Leeuwin Coast.

In Perth, it’s forecasted to be partly cloudy with a high chance of showers and a maximum temperature of 21.