Evacuation orders, traffic chaos as deadly floods sweep through Sydney

It’s all about me

It was a wet and wild ride today – but I have to sign. I’ll pin a message to the top of this feed where you can get the latest information.

Till we Meet Again.

Flooded Roseville Bridge

So it’s not the Harbor Bridge, but this shot of the Roseville Bridge across Middle Harbor made the rounds today. Pretty amazing.

Here comes the rain again

Greater Sydney Dam levels

In case you were wondering:

• Warragamba Dam: 100%
• Woronora Dam: 100%
• Avon Dam: 100%
• Cataract Dam: 100%
• Cordeaux dam: 100%
• Nepean Dam: 100%
• Prospect Dam: 97.4%
• Wingecarribee Reservoir: 100%
• Fitzroy Falls Reservoir: 100%
• Tallowa Dam: 100%
• Blue Mountains Dams: 99.9%

Discover this story

Here’s a bit more background on what happened in Manly this afternoon.

The Manly flood this afternoon

Well done commentators 👏👏

Thanks to everyone who chimed in, here are a few of my favorites.

Riley, I think Heath entrusted the rain to you!

-Vanessa from Adelaide

I hear that it is the rain which reigns!

-Well

It’s the reign of sin in the comments this afternoon.

-Belinda

And here’s one from the person who started it all by rightly pointing out the typo!

For Cam from Clifton Hill.

Thanks, I think. As always, you see the errors after clicking “Post a comment”.

-marksierra

Thanks for playing everyone – now back to the floods.

Singapore helicopters aid flood recovery

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has issued flood evacuation orders for the entire suburb of McGraths Hill and Mulgrave in Sydney’s northwest.

It says once flood waters reach 13.5m at nearby Windsor, the area will be isolated.

It tells people to evacuate by 8:30 p.m. and warns if they don’t they can get trapped without power or water, and it can be too dangerous to carry out rescues.

Continue the comments

Cam from Clifton Hill, this is the most brilliantly witty commentary I’ve seen in five years. I may only fear you and I’ll get it – if someone else does, sing along!

A hint: it concerns another post of the past hour. 🤔

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

-Clifton Hill Camera

Current BOM Warnings

This is what you need to know about the coming night.

The BOM says: “An east coast low continues to slowly deepen off the Hunter Coast and is expected to track south-southeastward overnight and Wednesday, taking it gradually further offshore.”

Heavy rain could cause flash flooding in these areas:

• sydney
• Illawarra
• Northern parts of the south coast

Between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., these areas could receive between 70 and 100 mm of rain.

Meanwhile, destructive winds could be prevalent in these areas:

• sydney
• Northern parts of the south coast
• Illawarra
• Eastern parts of the Southern Tableands

BOM rainfall totals

So how wet was it today?

Here are some of the main observations from the office:

• 102mm in three hours at 2:30 p.m. at Mona Vale Golf Club
• 124mm in six hours at 11 a.m. in Forestville
• 119 mm in six hours at 10 a.m. in Allambie
• 51 mm in one hour at 1:45 p.m. in Mosman

There was a wind gust of 94 km/h at Kiama recorded at 2:18 p.m. and one at 91 km/h at Montague Island at 11:56 a.m.

Let my reign begin. 👑

To Heath Parkes-Hupton. When you sin, you pass the reins to the next person. Reins, as in (usually) controlling a horse.
Reign means the period during which a monarch sits on the throne, but has nothing to do with handing over control. At least, not in this context, anyway.

-marksierra

It’s good to be here

Well, it’s good to be anywhere safe and dry in New South Wales this month.

I will share with you the evolution of the floods and weather conditions this evening.

Here’s one to kick things off: my wardrobe started leaking today…it looks like the ceiling in our apartment in Sydney has finally succumbed after over 130mm of rain in the past few 24 hours.

These hands are definitely better at sending e-mail than at sealing the roof, so sorting will be tomorrow’s problem!

I’m certainly not complaining: so many people have lost so much on Australia’s east coast over the past two weeks.

Fortunately, in NSW at least, the weather is starting to improve from tomorrow.

More on that later. For now: buckle up.

Heath goes offline

That’s all from me today.

I’m handing the reins over to Riley Stuart, who’ll let you know tonight.

Thanks for reading – and stay safe!