Yahoo News NSW weather: heavy rain, flooding and huge waves threaten homes on south and Central Coast
The New South Wales south coast has been hit by flooding after heavy downpours, damaging winds and large wind-driven waves. Narrabeen in Sydney’s north and Wamberal on the Central Coast have suffered further beach erosion, with houses dangerously close to the surf.
Torrential rain, which caused flooding around Newcastle and the Central Coast on Sunday, moved south overnight, bringing challenging conditions to the state’s south coast and the Australian Capital Territory forecast districts.
The conditions, created by a low-pressure system, have triggered more than 2,000 State Emergency Service call-outs since Saturday, however, a spokesman told the Guardian he expected the focus of their efforts would be across the Illawarra, NSW south coast and southern highlands on Tuesday.
A severe weather warning for damaging winds and surf remains in place for those areas, with the wind warning extending into the ACT.
In Sydney, a sinkhole has reportedly opened on Bay Street in Double Bay, where a truck appeared to be stuck on Tuesday morning.
An evacuation order was issued for 20 homes in Sussex Inlet, according to the SES. The river at Sanctuary Point peaked at 1.1 metres and was expected to rise further.
The Bureau of Meteorology said up to 164mm of rain had fallen at Moruya on the south coast to 9am on Monday, causing river levels to rise.
Been a wild few days around much of #NSW & while the #rain has eased for most, the system isn't quite done yet. Big #surf is already pounding places like Carters Headland, Kianga & more is still to come. Warnings here https://t.co/AZaM3S1o1y 📸 Insta @andymck_photo @nswpolice pic.twitter.com/stzh5uzDvb
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) July 27, 2020
At Narrabeen, huge swells pounded the beach, with beachfront homes hit by erosion.
6.20am - Ocean again has hammered Narrabeen. More chunks of peoples’ frontyards gone to the south. Still too dark to see properly. #nswpol @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/mIwb6F8Elu
— Linda Silmalis (@LindaSilmalis) July 27, 2020
Significant beach erosion at Narrabeen after last nights high tide and heavy swell from the east coast low @nampix for @smh and @9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/aKQNwrsYZq
— Nick Moir (@nampix) July 27, 2020
Minor flooding occurred along the Bega River, which was at 4.6 metres at Bega north early on Tuesday, with flood warnings issued for low-lying areas in the vicinity.
Heavy surf was believed to have caused localised damage and coastal erosion south of Wollongong, while a hazardous surf warning was in place between the south coast and Hunter coast, the BoM said on Tuesday.
Two people had to be rescued when a flatbed truck was caught in rising flood waters overnight on Swamp Road at Kiama. SES volunteers arrived shortly after 4am on Tuesday and used a raft to access the vehicle.
A flood warning was in place for the Deua River and St Georges basin on the south coast.
A watch alert was issued for the state’s coastal river catchments from the Upper Nepean to Moruya rivers. This includes the Shoalhaven River, St Georges basin and Bega River.
On Monday almost 15,000 residents in the Shoalhaven were without power as strong winds and heavy rain brought down trees and powerlines.
“More than 200 electrical hazards on the Endeavour Energy network have been reported since this morning,” the power company said. “Unfortunately this means that some customers will be without power overnight due to the scale of the damage, ongoing bad weather and road closures from flooding.
